A National Health Service survey (NHS), reported in the British Journal Bone and Joint, found that hip and knee replacements rated higher on a customer satisfaction measure than did such consumer items as cell phones. The survey used the corporate sector’s “net promoter score” method, which records whether people would recommend a product or service to their friends and family.
Hip Replacements More Popular Than Cell Phones?
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From more than 6, 000 responses collected between 2007 and 2011, NHS hip replacements scored a “staggering” net promoter score of 71 on a scale ranging from -100 to 100, while total knee replacements scored 49.
Michael Howie, who conducted the study, said in his best tight-lipped British fashion, that it was “surprising to see how well the hard-pressed NHS compared to other best-performing service industries.”
Ian Ritchie, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, which had used similar methods to gauge patient satisfaction with hip and knee replacements, called the results “reassuring.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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