Dunham US Army Health clinic is wild about APLSS. Although we all know the common phrase, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” we are not talking about the highly nutritious fruit. APLSS, Army Provider Level Satisfaction Survey, is a comprehensive survey program that is administered by the Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. The survey focuses on issues ranging from how the provider communicated with the patient during the visit to questions about access to care, cleanliness of the facility, and courtesy of the staff. Patients are randomly mailed a letter asking them to complete a brief questionnaire regarding their care at Dunham. There are three different ways a patient can fill out the questionnaire. The first is a short-form survey of nine questions that uses a toll-free number and a voice response system. The second method is utilizing a two page written survey. The third method is an Internet based survey where the patients can log in with a username and a password, which is provided for the patient in the letter sent to them about the survey. The confidential results of this survey are processed and trends are noted that provide immediate feedback for the leadership of the Dunham Clinic as well as the Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General.

Why is the APLSS so important to the Dunham Clinic? First of all, your comments and concerns are always a top priority for every member of your Dunham Team as we continuously strive to provide the best healthcare for our patients. But a second reason that we are so excited about our APLSS scores is that the Dunham Provider Teams have a “friendly” competition to score the highest APLSS points.  When a patient fills out the APLSS survey, the scores are tabulated and will reflect the Provider, the nursing staff, the ancillary staff, and of course the facility as a whole. The Provider Team with the highest overall satisfaction score wins for the quarter. Although winning a competition amongst your peers is fun and comes with bragging rights, the ultimate prize for the winning Provider Team is knowing that the patients feel that they are receiving the best care possible.

So next time you get an APLSS letter in the mail, please take the time to fill out the survey.  The responses that you, the patient give to the Dunham clinic, not only help your Provider Team win our competition, but help all the patients at the clinic receive the best care possible.