In market research, Net Promoter Score® (NPS) is one of the most prevalent measures of consumer experience, and its utilization by the healthcare industry continues to grow. What may seem like a simple 0–10 scale at first glance provides nuanced insight into patient perceptions and their potential to grow your organization. As a leading patient experience survey vendor for over 40 years, PRC ensures our clients collect these important data points and build on them with our own meaningful insights.
What is NPS?
In the simplest terms, the NPS question measures how likely people are to recommend a product, service, or organization on a scale of 0–10. Ratings classify respondents into one of three categories:
- Detractors (0–6): Unlikely to recommend and may actively discourage others
- Passives (7–8): Neutral; satisfied but not enthusiastic
- Promoters (9–10): Highly satisfied and likely to recommend
The actual score is meant to describe the overall strength of the market’s loyalty to your organization by taking into account both positive and negative feelings from your constituents. To calculate NPS, organizations subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. For example, if 70% of respondents are Promoters, 20% are Passives, and 10% are Detractors, the NPS would be 60 (70 – 10 = 60). The calculation highlights two strategies for improving your NPS: increase the number of promoters in your market and/or decrease the number of detractors.
How NPS Applies to Patient Experience
In patient experience surveys, NPS is assessed with the following question:
“Using a scale from 0-10, where 0 means ‘Not At All Likely’ and 10 means ‘Extremely Likely’, how likely are you to recommend [Organization Name] to friends and family?”
This metric sheds light on patient loyalty, which plays a key role in attracting new patients and strengthening an organization’s reputation.
Hospitals and Health Systems can improve their NPS in several ways:
- Service recovery efforts help address negative experiences before they result in Detractor sentiment
- Enhancing the patient experience at key touchpoints can turn a Passive 8 into a Promoter 9 or 10
At PRC, we measure patient satisfaction using our proven Excellent-to-Poor scale, which provides a highly reliable indicator of experience and opportunities for improvement. We also give clients the flexibility to incorporate NPS into their surveys, offering an additional layer of insight into patient loyalty and referral potential. By combining both metrics, organizations gain a comprehensive understanding of their patient experience to drive meaningful improvements.
Fill out our connection form to learn more about how PRC empowers our clients to drive loyalty and growth with an eye towards excellence.
