Thomas Jefferson University is releasing a study that re-examines the role of patient satisfaction in measuring hospital quality. Patient satisfaction scores are both intrinsically important and also help to determine hospital reimbursement rates. However, they may not be the best gauge of a good hospital. The study will appear next week in Risk Management and Insurance Review. Factors such as the noise in a hospital room or the responsiveness of a nurse are critically important to patients. But these same factors are more likely to characterize a large, busy urban hospital – busy because of high caseloads. Numerous studies have linked high caseloads to better medical outcomes.