Cross-sectional study of drivers of overall rating of cancer care by patients in Switzerland

The cross-sectional Swiss Cancer Patient Experiences study was carried out to determine which care experience items are the drivers influencing patients’ overall rating of cancer care. The study included 2750 patients from 8 hospitals. The overall care rating was 8.9 out of 10. Stepwise regression identified seven drivers contributing to the overall rating. The strongest drivers were ‘professionals worked well together’ (OR 4.81), and ‘tests were not repeated (OR 2.09) from the coordination and integration dimension, ‘offered support for symptoms during treatment’ (OR 2.11) from the physical comfort dimension, followed by ‘hospital staff ensured available home support (OR 1.99), ‘offered to see health professionals for concerns’ (OR 1.91), ‘treatment options were explained (OR 1.75), and ‘involved in treatment decisions as desired’ (OR 1.68). The authors conclude that by concentrating on these areas, hospitals can improve the patients care experience and efficiently allocate resources to quality improvement initiatives.