Patient Experience of Psychiatric Care as Measured by the Inpatient Consumer Survey (ICS)

The Patient Experience of Psychiatric Care as Measure by the Inpatient Consumer Survey (ICS) was developed to gather patient´s evaluation of their inpatient psychiatric care. The survey is composed of the following six individual measures or domains:

Measure #1: Outcome of care- The receipt of mental healthcare services should enable patients to effectively deal with their illness and with social situations. Patient´s report of the effectiveness of the organization in enabling this improvement is an important dimension of the quality of care of the organization. The following questions of the ICS pertain to the Outcome of care domain: Q1.I am able to deal with crisis.; Q2. My symptoms are not bothering me as much.; Q4. I do better in social situations.; and Q5. I deal more effectively with daily problems.

Measure #2: Dignity- The provision of mental healthcare services should be in an atmosphere where patients feel respected and treated with dignity. Patient´s report of the effectiveness of the organization in providing this respectful exchange is an important dimension of the quality of care of the organization. The following questions of the ICS pertain to the Dignity domain: Q6. I was treated with dignity and respect.; Q7. Staff here believe that I can grow, change and recover.; Q8. I felt comfortable asking questions about my treatment and medications.; and Q9. I was encouraged to use self-help/support groups.

Measure #3: Rights- The provision of mental healthcare services should be in an atmosphere where patients feel that they can express disapproval with conditions or treatment and receive an appropriate response from the organization. Patient´s report of the effectiveness of the organization in providing this respectful exchange is an important dimension of the quality of care of the organization. The following questions of the ICS pertain to the Rights domain: Q13. I felt free to complain without fear of retaliation.; Q14. I felt safe to refuse medication or treatment during my hospital stay.; and Q15. My complaints and grievances were addressed.

Measure #4: Participation in treatment- Patient´s involvement in the treatment process and the coordination of discharge planning with their doctors or therapist from the community are enabling activities that strengthen patient´s ability to care for themselves. Patient´s report of the effectiveness of the organization in supporting this level of involvement is an important dimension of the quality of care of the organization. The following questions of the ICS pertain to the Participation in treatment domain: Q16. I participated in planning my discharge.; Q17. Both I and my doctor or therapist from the community were actively involved in my hospital treatment plan.; and Q18. I had the opportunity to talk with my doctor or therapist from the community prior to discharge.

Measure #5: Hospital environment - The provision of mental healthcare services should be in an environment conducive to patients feeling safe and enabling patients to focus on recovering from their illness. The following questions of the ICS pertain to the Hospital environment domain: Q19. The surroundings and atmosphere at the hospital helped me get better.; Q20. I felt I had enough privacy in the hospital.; Q21. I felt safe while in the hospital.; and Q22. The hospital environment was clean and comfortable.

Measure #6: Empowerment - The provision of mental healthcare services should be in an atmosphere where patients feel that they, interactively with their doctors and therapist, learn more about their illness and about their treatment options and are encouraged to determine their best plan to recovery. Patient´s report of the effectiveness of the organization in enabling this respectful, compassionate, and supportable encounter among patients and healthcare professionals is an important dimension of the quality of care of the organization. The following questions pertain to the Hospital empowerment domain: Q25. I had a choice of treatment options.; Q26. My contact with my doctor was helpful.; and, Q27. My contact with nurses and therapist was helpful.

Question 28, "If I had a choice of hospitals, I would still choose this one", is considered as the anchor item utilized to measure overall satisfaction with the mental healthcare service received. This question does not pertain to any of the six measures/domains of the ICS.

Each measure is scored as the percentage of patients (adolescents aged 13-17 and adults aged 18 and older) at time of discharge or at annual review who respond positively to the domain on the survey for a given month. Survey questions are based on a standard 5-point Likert scale, evaluated on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

As a note, the words domain and measure are used interchangeably during the application.