ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Survey (OLD / Pre 2023)

One of the features of our service that is most popular with our members, is the ability to receive Patient Experience Survey (PES) forms and a Summary Report for ANZCA’s triennial CPD programme. 

We offer Patient Experience Surveys (+ Reports) with all paid monthly plans or as a standalone add-on to our Free Plan. Choose your plan then sign up here to receive Patient Experience Surveys.

How do ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys work (quick)

1. Sign Up – pricing here
2. We create your Patient Experience Survey forms
3. (Optional) Choose a Feedback Provider (eg. colleague) to receive your surveys
4. Ask patients to fill in your form (eg. note on your bill)
5. Once you have the minimum 15 responses…
6. We create your PES Summary Report and sign the ANZCA CPD Verification Form (we act as your Administrator)
7. Meet your Feedback Provider to discuss the results
8. Lodge with ANZCA to claim your 20 CPD points **** PLEASE NOTE – The ANZCA CPD program was updated in 2023 – read more here.
9. and repeat..

It’s all very straightforward. Read the detailed version here

Repeat this twice a year to receive 40 CPD points.
Or repeat this five times a triennium and use this as the 100 CPD points for Practice Evaluation* !

Click here to sign up now

Patient feedback form differences

All new Anaesthetic Group plan members are automatically set up to receive ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys.

Existing Standard and Premium Plan members can choose between two versions of a post-op feedback form on their profile page:

1. Standard Post-Op Feedback form – with responses direct to the anaesthetist (no CPD credits)
2. ANZCA CPD-compliant Patient Experience Surveys – default option (receive CPD credits)

Standard Post-Op Feedback

The old post-op feedback form allowed for either anonymous or patient-identified feedback to be provided, and was communicated directly with the anaesthetist member.

ANZCA CPD Patient Survey

Existing Members can alternatively choose to have a post-op feedback form that is compliant with the new ANZCA CPD programme’s Patient Experience Surveys. The anaesthetist member does not receive the direct feedback from patients, instead they go to your chosen feedback provider and Anaesthetic Group provides them the required survey summary upon request automatically when you receive the minimum 15 responses.

Update: As of June 2018, ANZCA launched a new Paediatric (Child) version of their Patient Experience Survey and PES Summary Reports. The Paediatric and Adult versions of the PES Survey and Summary Report are now separate, and different from one another, both are included and ANZCA have confirmed you may ‘mix’ your 15 responses across the two versions.

Each Practice Evaluation (Summary) Survey of 15 responses is worth 20 credits, and is one of four types of Practice Evaluation activities to be completed each triennium (every 3 years). The best part is that once we set this up for you on Anaesthetic Group, this collection and collation of patient feedback is automated with minimal effort on your part!

Our patient experience survey and summary fulfils ANZCA requirements for continuing professional development with 20 credit points for “Practice Evaluation”. However as they allow the activity of Patient Experience Surveys to be completed twice, 40 points are then available each triennium.Update: In November 2019 we contacted ANZCA and were advised in writing that “there is no limit on the amount of patient experience surveys you complete” “you could even complete 5 patient experience surveys over your triennium and use this as the 100 credits, we would just ask that you try to space them out a bit if possible“..

How do I upgrade to the ANZCA CPD Patient Survey

New Members – All new plan members automatically receive the ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Survey
Existing Members – Please contact us so we can change your form over

How does Anaesthetic Group help with the ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Survey

1. We act as your administrator
2. Anaesthetic Group will set up your ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys on your profile
3. We securely host and maintain your form allowing patients to complete it on a device and at a time convenient to them
4. We email all entries to your feedback provider
5. We create and provide a completed survey summary(s) to your feedback provider upon request automatically when you receive the minimum 15 responses
6. All you need to do is notify patients of your form (e.g on your bill) and meet with your feedback provider. We spend all the time on doing the rest.

 

How do I encourage patients to complete my PES?

By far the easiest and most successful method is by including an automatic request on your bill/invoice.

“I hope you’ve had a pleasant experience with your recent surgery and you are recovering well. When you have a moment I would appreciate it if you could please complete my Patient Experience Survey at anaestheticgroup.com.au/yourshortlink.”

We will provide you with your short link when we set up your account.

Based on a previous report, a typical Anaesthetist received 3 patient experience surveys per month, while the most popular received a staggering 26 in a single month; this popular member said “I tell all patients who’ve completed an online questionnaire that they’ll receive a link to a feedback questionnaire“. So it’s great to mention it to the patient before the operation too, so they expect it.

To see an article on other methods of encouraging Post-Op / PES Feedback please click here. 

 

How will I receive the summary report?

Your PES Summary Report(s) will automatically be sent (by us) to you and your feedback provider.

We perform a monthly check on your PES forms, to see how many you have received. This is typically done in the first week of the month. Once you’ve reached 15 responses, your report will be automatically sent to your feedback provider. The reason we wait until you have 15 responses is that this is the minimum number of surveys accepted by ANZCA for CPD points. If at any point you require a report before 15 responses have been received, or need to know how many PES you have received so far, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to check for you.

 

What does the form and summary report look like?

The Patient Experience Survey Form online is a simple to use secure form. Live example here. It is set up as per ANZCA guidelines.

The Summary Report is produced in an easy-to-follow format and sent as a PDF document: (New version below, see the old version here)

How do Anzca CPD Patient Experience Surveys work (detailed)

For Patient Experience Survey to be compliant, ANZCA’s Patient Experience Survey guidelines updated May 2018 dated November 2013 must be considered (phrases in italics are quotes from these guidelines):

• Completion of the activity requires an administrator (that’s us) to distribute the survey and collate results (we host the form online and we collate the results for you).
• It is recommended, but not mandated, that a feedback provider is selected to discuss the results with the anaesthetist, specialists can choose to complete the patient experience surveys as a group over a two to six week period (depending on case load). We recommend choosing a colleague as your feedback provider so you can discuss the results over a coffee or lunch. If you haven’t chosen someone on signup, you can always advise us of their details later.
• The administrator and feedback provider (if applicable) sign the confidentiality section of the Patient experience survey confidentiality and CPD verification form. We send you this form when we provide your summary report, or it can be downloaded from the ANZCA website.
• To obtain the most meaningful result, the survey should be administered within two weeks of surgery. This prevents recall bias and satisfaction scores being correlated with the outcome of the procedure... Please note: response rates differ depending on timing and method of administration. It is recommended that the same timing and method be used for each patient experience survey activity. Your bill / invoice is normally the easiest and most efficient way to request patients complete your PES.
• Responses from a minimum of 15 surveys per specialist must be included on the survey summary form.
• Your administrator (us) will provide the original patient survey forms and the only copy of the patient experience survey summary form to the feedback provider – this is mentioned on the ANZCA CPD verification form, which is why we require your feedback providers email address to send the PES forms to. We then delete all the forms from our database once your summary form is created and sent to your feedback provider.
• The participant and the feedback provider should meet for approximately 20-30 minutes to talk about the results of the survey. It is suggested that the participant be asked about any particular items on the survey they may be concerned about and aspects of their practice they could improve upon.
• The feedback provider then talks through the summary results for each item, discussing any issues that arise from the results. The feedback provider may ask the participant to consider why they may have received negative results (if any) and discuss examples of how they approach those aspects of practice. The feedback provider should also help to prompt the participant to consider how they could improve the results (if needed) and possibilities for professional development.
• The participant asks the administrator and feedback provider to sign the verification section of the patience experience survey confidentiality and CPD verification form. Link here.
• Completion of this activity can be recorded on the CPD portfolio system. Participants will be asked to provide the following information:
  • Number of forms collected (we include this on the summary report)
  • Start and end date along with total hours.
  • A copy of the survey used (we include this with the summary report)
  • A completed patient experience survey confidentiality and CPD verification form (we also include this with the summary report)

• If a participant is selected to be involved in the random audit of CPD activities, the participant must provide evidence of the review. A copy of the survey used and the survey confidentiality and CPD verification form is acceptable. This form can then be uploaded to the CPD portfolio system. The feedback provider may be contacted by the College to verify the activity took place.
• In June 2018, ANZCA notified us: “In regards to the 15 surveys that are required to be collected to meet requirement for the Patient Experience survey activity of the ANZCA and FPM CPD program, each response is valid in itself and if it is a sample of real-time mixed practice that it is fine to use both the Patient Experience survey (Appendix 1A) and the Paediatric/patient satisfaction survey (Appendix 1AP).”
• In November 2019 we contacted ANZCA and were advised in writing that “there is no limit on the amount of patient experience surveys you complete” “you could even complete 5 patient experience surveys over your triennium and use this as the 100 credits, we would just ask that you try to space them out a bit if possible. So, if you complete 2 Patient Experience Surveys each year, you should be fulfilling your minimum 30 credits per year. And if you complete 5 Patient Experience Surveys, you should be fulfilling your triennium 100 credits!

Other FAQs on ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys

What do you need to do to set up ANZCA CPD Patient Surveys

1. Join one of our plans (update – join a monthly plan or now you can purchase the $199 once off PES-only option) – pricing here
2. Advise us of the email address of your feedback provider (on sign up or you can let us know later)
3. Ask your billing company to include a note on your invoices to ask patients to complete the survey
4. .. we handle all the rest and once you receive the minimum 15 responses, we compile your survey summary(s) form and you meet with your feedback provider to discuss the results and claim your CPD credits

How much does it cost?

Patient Experience Surveys are included in all Standard and Premium plans at no extra cost.
Anaesthetists not on a membership plan with us can now purchase the option of Patient Experience Surveys for a once-off $199 fee. Click here for more information. (The renewal cost is then only $99)

How do I sign up?

Click here to sign up to Anaesthetic Group to start receiving your ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys. We have no lock-in contracts and no signup or cancellation fees. We accept payment by MasterCard, Visa, Amex and Paypal.

Is there a limit?

No! If you complete 2 Patient Experience Surveys each year, you should be fulfilling your minimum 30 credits per year. And if you complete 5 Patient Experience Surveys, you should be fulfilling your triennium 100 credits. In November 2019 we contacted ANZCA and were advised in writing that “there is no limit on the amount of patient experience surveys you complete” “you could even complete 5 patient experience surveys over your triennium and use this as the 100 credits, we would just ask that you try to space them out a bit if possible“.

Is the form secure?

Yes! Like all forms received on Anaesthetic Group, your ANZCA CPD Patient Experience Surveys are transmitted over encrypted channels and HTTPS. Our website is also hosted on secure Australian hosted servers ensuring your patient information is safe. The Patient Experience Survey form is also anonymous.

Why does Anaesthetic Group offer this?

Firstly because assisting and helping anaesthetists improve their efficiency in private practice is our number one aim. And secondly because we can – our website’s core product is secure forms for Australian anaesthetists. I am also married to an anaesthetist, so I see the admin / headache side of your business. You don’t want to be bothered with building your own website, maintaining the security and constant updates and patches required to host a form. You also don’t want to have to ask a friend to send out paper forms, pay for the return postage and collate the results via an excel database or complex pivot table. You just need a simple affordable solution to ensure you continue what you do best and what you get paid to do – anaesthetising patients. As with all the products we offer, it is because we have been asked to create them by anaesthetists just like you, or because I have seen the need for a solution first hand. If you have any other ideas on how I can help, please feel free to contact me directly.

There’s only a few weeks left to the year – can you help?

Yes 🙂 Whilst I normally check the responses received / build the reports in the first week of the month.. if you’ve left it a bit late to fulfil your ANZCA year credits and are receiving the surveys at the end of year, just let me know and I’ll make sure I check your responses and build the report a few days before the year ends.

I have more questions – who do I ask:

If you have more questions please don’t hesitate to contact us or speak to ANZCA.