For our last survey, we scored at the 80^th percentile for
patient satisfaction.  One of the hospitals in our system scored
just .08 higher than our hospital, yet they are at the 90^th percentile? 
Could you explain how such a small difference can have such a huge impact?

Response:

Have you ever watched track & field events in the Olympics?  If you look carefully at the results, you’ll see that the difference between the first one to finish and the last to cross the line is often less than one second, and sometimes much less.  In the same way, our national database is packed with high performers—our clients continue to redefine excellence quarter after quarter.  And, like the runners, the difference between the near-the-top performers and the top performers is often quite miniscule.

When this question was posed to our expert analysts, they quickly responded with the following example, showing how small the gaps can be between positions from the 75^th all the way to the 99^th percentile rank.  You’ll quickly notice that there is only a .31 difference in score between the 75^th percentile and the 99^th percentile, and the differences become rather tight in several areas throughout the spectrum.