Perceived satisfaction in fetal therapy: proposal and pilot of a novel assessment tool (FETAL Surgery Global Satisfaction)

BACKGROUND: The quality of healthcare services has drawn significant attention within the medical field, with patient-perceived satisfaction emerging as a crucial indicator. Analyzing patient satisfaction could uncover areas of weakness, suggesting the need for improvements in care. However, in the specialized field of Fetal Medicine and Therapy, there lacks a validated tool for assessing care quality from the patient´s perspective. This study aims to design and pilot an instrument for measuring patient-perceived satisfaction as a barometer of the quality of services provided. METHODS: We developed a survey instrument to assess six key areas of healthcare (Follow-up care, environment, transparency, accessibility of care, link between physician and patient, and global satisfaction), through 20 multiple-choice questions. Every key area was rated from 1 to 5 and the overall score was calculated by dividing the total score by the number of areas, resulting in rates from 1 to 5, higher scoring represented a greater patient-perceived satisfaction. It was initially piloted on a sample of 34 pregnant women undergoing a specific fetal therapy (Ex Utero Intrapartum Treatment, EXIT) at our center between June 2007 and January 2024. RESULTS: A total of 29 out of 34 patients agreed to participate. According to the proposed tool and the suggested scoring scale, we achieved an overall score of 4.67, indicating a very satisfactory rating. The highest mean score was for the "Global satisfaction" domain (4.76), revealing that participants where highly likely to recommend our department. It was followed by "Follow-up care" and "Environment" domains (4.69, each). Notably, "Transparency" and "Link between physician-patient" were the lowest rated domains (4.58 and 4.62, respectively), suggesting the timely provision of enhancement. CONCLUSIONS: We propose "FETAL Surgery Global Satisfaction Tool" as a potential valuable instrument to assess patient-perceived satisfaction. It could provide insights into the quality of services offered by Fetal Medicine and Therapy Units. By identifying key areas for improvement, this tool could support continuous quality enhancement across Fetal Therapy programs globally. Further studies are warranted to evaluate its validity and potential future reliability.