Member satisfaction surveys: the next frontier.

The content and applications of member satisfaction surveys in managed care have undergone a rapid series of transformations. In this article, the recent evolutions are reviewed and summarized in terms of emerging trends. Several of the operational issues related to the standardization of a core general member satisfaction survey are identified and explored. Standardization will require collaboration, and ongoing feedback, to refine the process of collecting the data and disseminating the results to various stakeholders and consumers. Member satisfaction survey standardization presents an excellent opportunity for the wide range of insurance products to be evaluated in a uniform manner.