Best questions for patient survey about test results communication

Here are some of the best questions for a patient survey about test results communication, plus practical tips to make these surveys effective. If you want to build a patient survey about test results communication in seconds, you can generate a custom survey using Specific’s AI survey builder.

Best open-ended questions for patient survey about test results communication

Open-ended questions let us hear directly from patients—in their language—about preferences, concerns, and ideas. They lead to richer feedback, capture sentiment, and help us understand factors we might overlook with standard checkboxes. They’re especially valuable when you want to learn about challenges or satisfaction with test results communication, and uncover what truly matters to patients.

1. How do you usually prefer to receive your medical test results?

2. Can you describe your most recent experience receiving test results from our clinic?

3. What made you feel most comfortable (or uncomfortable) about how your test results were communicated?

4. Were there any parts of the communication that were unclear or left you with questions?

5. What improvements could we make to help you better understand your test results?

6. Was there a specific method (phone, letter, portal, etc.) that you found most convenient for getting your results? Why?

7. How quickly did you receive your results, and how did that timing impact your experience?

8. If you had questions about your test results, how easy was it to reach someone for clarification?

9. Have you experienced anxiety or confusion related to how your test results were communicated? Please explain.

10. Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience with test results communication?

Patients overwhelmingly express distinct preferences for how test results are communicated—55% favor telephone calls, while 19% prefer letters and 5% email. Open-ended questions like the above help us capture these nuanced preferences, which can lead to better patient engagement and experience [1].

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for patient survey about test results communication

Single-select multiple-choice questions are great when you want structured, quantifiable feedback or need to quickly spot trends. They make it easy for respondents to answer—especially when the topic is sensitive or complex—and set the stage for deeper exploration with follow-ups.

Question: How do you prefer to receive your medical test results?

• Phone call from a physician or nurse practitioner

• Letter by mail

• Secure online portal

• In-person during a scheduled visit

• Email

• Other

Question: How satisfied were you with the speed at which you received your most recent test results?

• Very satisfied

• Somewhat satisfied

• Neutral

• Somewhat dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

Question: Did you clearly understand your test results when they were communicated to you?

• Yes, completely

• Somewhat

• No, not at all

When to follow up with "why?" If a patient selects a less satisfied response or indicates confusion, asking “Why did you feel that way?” or “Can you share more about what was unclear?” draws out specifics you wouldn’t uncover otherwise. This context informs targeted improvement.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always include an “Other” option to give respondents a voice when their experience doesn’t fit standard categories. Following up with “Please describe your preference” often surfaces new ideas or pain points you hadn’t considered—these often become rich sources of unexpected insights.

NPS question for patient survey about test results communication

NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks how likely someone is to recommend a service to others, typically from 0–10. For patient surveys about test results communication, an NPS question is a simple way to measure overall satisfaction and identify both advocates and detractors. It's especially powerful when combined with tailored follow-up questions for those who score low or high.

To make a patient NPS survey about test results communication, try our quick NPS survey generator for patients.

Getting this quantitative measure, then pairing it with open-ended follow-ups, helps validate changes and benchmark progress over time. Studies show that patients who receive written notifications report 100% satisfaction, compared to 79% for those who receive verbal communication [2]. NPS can help reveal where your communication is strongest or needs attention.

The power of follow-up questions

When patient feedback is unclear or incomplete, follow-up questions make all the difference. See how automatic follow-up questions work in practice. With Specific, AI-powered follow-up questions adapt on the fly—clarifying, digging deeper, and surfacing actionable insights in real time, as a research expert would do.

• Patient: “I didn’t really understand what my blood results meant.”

• AI follow-up: “Could you tell us which part of your results or explanation was confusing? Was it the terminology, the amount of information, or something else?”

This ability to clarify prevents you from being left with answers that raise more questions than they answer—a common problem in manual survey approaches.

How many followups to ask? Asking 2–3 follow-ups after an initial response is usually enough to uncover meaningful context, while keeping conversations efficient. With Specific, you can set a limit for follow-ups or allow the AI to move on once the needed detail is collected—we find this balance gets you depth without overwhelming respondents.

This makes it a conversational survey—the interview flows naturally, and patients feel heard rather than interrogated by rigid forms.

AI survey analysis. Even with lots of unstructured replies and open-text feedback, it’s easy to analyze responses using AI. This removes the manual burden and gives you clear summaries and key themes—no data scientist needed.

These automated, conversational follow-ups are a new paradigm for patient feedback. Give it a try—generate an AI-powered survey and see the difference yourself.

How to write a great prompt for ChatGPT or AI survey tools

Want to use ChatGPT or another large language model to help brainstorm patient survey questions about test results communication? Start simple, but remember—AI performs best with specific instructions and context. Here’s how we do it.

First, try a straightforward prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for patient survey about test results communication.

But if you share more about your goals, target audience, and what you want to improve, you’ll get even better results. For example:

Our clinic is seeking ways to improve how we communicate test results. We want to understand patient preferences, satisfaction, and areas where our process can be more clear or empathetic. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a patient survey designed to capture these insights.

After you have a list of questions, use another tailored prompt:

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

Then, identify the topics you want to explore further (like satisfaction or clarity). Pick those categories and ask:

Generate 10 questions for categories “clarity of information” and “communication method preference”.

This stepwise prompting helps you uncover deeper, targeted insights for your survey—just like an expert survey designer would.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey uses a chat-like interface to guide respondents through questions, following up naturally and adapting based on their feedback. Instead of a static list, it feels more like having a brief, meaningful conversation—and that means higher engagement and more insightful responses.

Let’s compare manual vs AI-generated surveys:

Specific offers best-in-class user experience in conversational surveys, bringing patients into an easy back-and-forth rather than transactional forms. For a hands-on walkthrough, check out our guide on how to create a patient survey about test results communication using our AI survey platform.

Why use AI for patient surveys? AI unlocks the full depth of patient feedback by turning rigid forms into conversations and analyzing every reply—open-ended, multiple choice, and follow-up—without the manual load. With tools like Specific, you can create, collaborate on, and launch AI survey examples (and variants) in a fraction of the time, all while gathering richer, action-ready insights.

See this test results communication survey example now

Get instant patient insights and see why conversational, AI-powered surveys deliver deeper understanding with less effort. Try out the best-in-class conversational survey experience today.