Comparative study of patients' satisfaction in different levels of hospitals in Beijing: Why do patients prefer high-level hospitals?

Abstract

Background: In order to promote the vertical flow and integration of medical resources, Beijing built medical alliances since 2012, but this practice did not change the disordered state of medical treatment. Patients are still willing to go to high-level hospitals for medical treatment. What causes patients to prefer high-level hospitals? Through previous research, patients' choice of medical treatment was affected by patients' satisfaction. Therefore, we compared the patients' satisfaction in different level hospitals under the background of the medical resource integration. Methods: This study conducted a 48-person interview and a questionnaire survey among 1,250 patients who were treated in 18 medical alliances in Beijing from October to December 2016. The patients’ satisfaction was the main outcome, descriptive analysis, a chi-square test, a nonparametric test and binary logistic regression analysis were used. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The total satisfaction score of the medical alliances is 3.375, and the satisfaction score of core hospitals and cooperative hospitals is 2.77 and 3.07 respectively. The overall patient satisfaction rate is 44.62%, among which the satisfaction rate of core hospitals is 34.34% and that of the cooperative hospitals is 50.43%. The type of hospital and understanding of medical alliance policy are the influencing factors of the patients’ satisfaction with the medical alliance. Conclusions: Patients are more satisfied with the core hospitals. However, because core hospitals have obtained the most subsidies with limited financial compensation, the gap between core hospitals and cooperative hospitals is growing. The phenomenon of disorderly medical treatment in China seems more intense. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the establishment of closed medical alliances so that provide integrated medical services for patients.

A Study on the Influential Factors of Medical Service Satisfaction

“…It is recommended that grassroots hospitals improve the circumstances and service capability of township health facilities, as well as optimize the organization of human resources in medical institutions. Medical and health resources are usually divided into three categories: medical and health financial resources, medical and health people resources, and medical and health material resources The research found that hospitals with better grades have higher medical expectations, higher levels of satisfaction, and higher levels of faith in medical technology, based on a survey of patient satisfaction with hospitals of various grades [3]. Hospital can improve patient satisfaction by optimizing resource allocation and utilization and adjusting medical service and management strategy [4].…”