Best questions for patient survey about physical therapy experience

Here are some of the best questions for a patient survey about physical therapy experience, plus tips for crafting them. If you want to build a survey quickly and effortlessly, you can generate it instantly with Specific.

The best open-ended questions for patient survey about physical therapy experience

Open-ended questions let people describe their experience in their own words, which means you capture richer, more nuanced feedback. Use these when you want patients to reflect honestly and give details that might surprise you—like how they felt about their therapist’s approach, the clinic environment, or even their own recovery.

Studies underscore why this matters: effective communication and shared decision-making are the top drivers of physical therapy satisfaction. In fact, one review found that education and dialogue between therapist and patient predicted higher likelihood to recommend services. [1]

1. Can you describe your overall experience with your physical therapy treatment?

2. What specific changes or improvements have you noticed since starting therapy?

3. Was there anything about your sessions that exceeded your expectations?

4. Did anything during your treatment not go as planned, or leave you dissatisfied?

5. How would you describe your relationship and communication with your therapist?

6. What aspect of the clinic environment stood out to you, positively or negatively?

7. Were there any barriers that made attending or participating in therapy difficult?

8. How well did you understand your diagnosis and therapy plan?

9. What could have been done differently to improve your experience?

10. Is there any feedback you’d like to give—about staff, facilities, or the process overall?

The best single-select multiple-choice questions for patient survey about physical therapy experience

Single-select multiple-choice questions are great for quantifying responses—perfect when you want structured answers at a glance. Sometimes patients don’t have the energy (or words) for long answers, so offering a few clear options makes it easy to start the conversation. Later, you can dive deeper with follow-ups if needed.

Question: How satisfied are you with the results of your physical therapy treatment?

• Very satisfied

• Satisfied

• Neutral

• Dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: Did you feel included in decision-making about your treatment plan?

• Always

• Often

• Sometimes

• Rarely

• Never

Question: What was the most helpful aspect of your physical therapy experience?

• Personalized exercise programs

• Therapist’s encouragement/support

• Educational resources provided

• Clinic environment

• Other

When to followup with "why?" Ask why as a followup right after someone selects an option (especially if they select "dissatisfied", "never", or "other"). This is where you get contextual detail, like what exactly made their experience positive or not. For example, if a patient chooses "neutral" on satisfaction, asking "Why do you feel neutral about your results?" can reveal critical insights.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add "Other" when choices might not cover the patient’s full experience. This opens the door to insights you may not have imagined. When respondents choose "Other," follow up and ask them to elaborate—very often, this is where you’ll find key feedback that shapes future improvements.

Why NPS is a smart question for patient surveys

NPS—or Net Promoter Score—asks one simple question: “How likely are you to recommend our physical therapy services to a friend or colleague?” It’s a power-metric for benchmarking patient loyalty, and correlates strongly with broader satisfaction. Given that studies show high overall patient satisfaction with physical therapy (with satisfaction scores averaging 4.44 out of 5 in global data) [2], NPS puts a quantifiable number on your clinic’s reputation and helps target improvements. You can generate an NPS survey in seconds for immediate feedback.

The power of follow-up questions

Followup questions are the secret sauce of great feedback. Instead of stopping at the first answer, Specific uses AI-driven follow-ups that zero in on detail, clarify unclear comments, or dig deeper where it matters. This lets you collect the context you need for stronger insights. Learn how Specific uses automatic followup questions to make that happen.

Before AI, a patient might respond vaguely—"It was okay"—and you’d chase them down via emails for clarification (which, let’s be honest, rarely works). With AI-powered surveys from Specific, the follow-up happens in real time, conversationally, as if an expert researcher is running the interview.

• Patient: "I didn’t like the schedule."

• AI follow-up: "Can you share more about what made the schedule difficult for you?"

Or:

• Patient: "The exercises were too repetitive."

• AI follow-up: "Which exercises did you find repetitive, and what would you have preferred instead?"

How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2–3 followup questions are plenty—they help clarify, without making the conversation tedious. With Specific, you can set a smart follow-up limit, and also allow the system to move on once it collects what’s needed. This keeps feedback efficient and friendly.

This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of you filling out an impersonal form, it’s an engaging conversation that adapts to your responses—just like a real chat.

AI response analysis, open text insights: Even if you end up with mountains of open-text feedback, AI makes it easy to analyze. You can summarize, theme, or even chat with the responses using AI. No need to read all responses manually.

Try generating a survey now and see how these automated, real-time followups transform your data quality.

How to prompt ChatGPT to generate great patient survey questions

If you want to get creative with your own AI (like ChatGPT), starting with a targeted prompt is key. For example, ask:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for patient survey about physical therapy experience.

But you’ll get even better results if you give the AI a bit more context up front. Share details about your clinic, your patient goals, or what you want to learn. Example:

We run an outpatient physical therapy clinic serving adults recovering from surgery or chronic conditions. Our goal is to improve both the care experience and treatment outcomes. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to include in a patient feedback survey.

This makes your output much more relevant and thoughtful.

Next, you might want to organize your questions into groups or themes. Use a prompt like:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Then, identify the categories that matter most—for example, "Patient understanding", "Therapist communication", or "Facility experience"—and go deeper:

Generate 10 questions for the categories “Therapist communication” and “Treatment results.”

What is a conversational survey?

Traditional survey forms are often clunky, rigid, and impersonal. You’re handed a list of questions and expected to fill them out without much context or support. That’s very different from a conversational survey, where you get:

• A natural chat-like experience that adapts based on each answer

• Real-time follow-up questions for richer, clearer responses

• Friendly, adaptive tone that feels more like talking to a person (because it is—powered by AI)

This AI survey builder approach means you can launch high-quality, adaptive surveys in minutes, not hours—and collect stronger data minus the hassle.

Why use AI for patient surveys? You get richer, more complete insights. Respondents feel heard; you get fewer incomplete answers. Plus, you avoid back-and-forth emails and manual cleanup. With platforms like Specific, you can create conversational surveys that gather feedback efficiently and provide automated analysis—all while making it easy for patients to respond.

If you want a step-by-step guide, see how to create a physical therapy experience survey using Specific from scratch.

Specific stands out for its best-in-class user experience, making both the survey creation and patient response process smooth, engaging, and actually enjoyable. Try an AI survey example and feel the difference.

See this physical therapy experience survey example now

Ready to level up your patient feedback? Experience how AI-powered, conversational surveys from Specific help you learn more and act faster—see a physical therapy experience survey example and uncover insights you can use today.