Patient satisfaction or acquiescence? Comparing mail and telephone survey results.

Debates about whether to use telephone or mail to survey discharged patients are waged in many hospitals. Findings from a methodological test indicate the two methods result in significant differences in evaluations--differences that health care marketers would be wise to heed. Mail-back questionnaires generate a wider range of responses and minimize the "acquiescence bias" telephone interviews tend to elicit, especially in health care surveys.