The Mailout Questionaire As The Practical Method Of Choice

Gallagher presented a one-sided attack on the self-administered patient questionnaire, perhaps the most practical method for most health care organizations. He stated that self-administered surveys are invalid because the results do not represent the opinions of those who do not return the surveys; but it is not true to say that the characteristics and opinions of those who return surveys necessarily differ from those who do not respond. Special characteristics of respondents are less important than consistency in their answers and perceptions. Gallagher replies that Press and Ganey speciously minimize the problem of nonresponse in mailout self-administered questionnaires. They have no basis for assuring statistically valid results from a single mailing with a nonresponse rate of 70% or more. It should be clear to budget-conscious administrators that the validity of single-mailing questionnaire patient studies cannot be assumed. The cheapest alternative may be the most costly in the long run.