Evaluation of patient experience in county-level public hospitals in China: a multicentred, cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesPatient experience is being widely considered in the evaluation of healthcare service quality, which is a key target for public hospitals under China’s New Healthcare Reform. This study aimed to illustrate patients’ experiences in county-level public hospitals, and identify aspects that need to be improved.Setting and participantsBetween 2016 and 2018, a cross-sectional study with 500 outpatients and 800 inpatients was conducted in 10 county-level public hospitals from Shandong Province, Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality.MethodA three-part questionnaire was used to evaluate patients’ experiences during their visits to hospitals. It comprised a questionnaire for basic information, the Picker Patient Experience (PPE-15) Questionnaire and the overall evaluation (a 3-point Likert scale to express patients’ satisfaction and patient loyalty). Patients’ experiences were classified according to six dimensions (information transmission and patient education, respect for patient preference, emotional support, physical comfort, involvement of family or friends and continuity of medical service). Both univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate patient experience.ResultsA total of 1241 valid questionnaires were analysed. The mean PPE-15 score was 41.33 (range, 23–56). The better the patient experience and satisfaction, the higher the patient loyalty (p<0.001). Except for hospital disparities, patients’ age and occupation status had a significant impact on patient experience (p<0.05). Of the six dimensions, the physical comfort score was the highest, while the respect for patient preference score was the lowest. Additionally, a strong correlation was found between the respect for patient preference dimension and patients’ overall satisfaction with their treatment experience.ConclusionsHospital managers and staff members should pay close attention to the preferences of patients and their families to improve patient experience.

Who Is More Satisfied with Health Services? A Cross-Sectional Study in China

“…As with other developing countries, many scholars have already evaluated the satisfaction with health service in China, including “diabetes patients’ satisfaction with community health service,” 15 “patient satisfaction with county-level public hospitals’ service,” 16 and “noncommunicable disease patients’ satisfaction with family doctor-contracted services.” 17 Most research subjects were patients with a specific disease, and most studies evaluate the satisfaction of a particular service. There are fewer studies on integrating specific health service items into several categories and analyzing their satisfaction.…”

Evaluation of Inpatient Experience at Some Clinical Departments of Kien Giang General Hospital, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, 2020: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

“…24 Patients who have a positive experience with primary care providers were given a chance to ask questions about their treatment with a rate of 75.2%, almost equal to patients always having the opportunity to talk to the nurse when needed (76%) as of the result of patient experience survey at Tallaght Hospital. 25 There was no chance to talk to the doctor in the study of patient experience in county-level public hospitals in China 26 because the inpatients at Kien Giang General Hospital were very crowded, so this rate of positive experience was only relative. Even so, patients with a high rate of positive experience were paired with primary care workers who always listened to questions and concerns of the patient/patient’s family, and always explained things in a way easy to understand with the rates of 88.3% and 93.7%, respectively.…”

Promoção da satisfação e lealdade dos pacientes em instituições de saúde: revisão integrativa

“…A satisfação do paciente e a lealdade são construtos consequentes da percepção de valor do serviço (Pevec & Pisnik, 2018). A satisfação foi identificada como tendo um efeito positivo na lealdade do paciente em instituições de saúde (Anabila, 2019;Min et al, 2019;Rostami et al, 2019). Em um desses estudos, os principais determinantes da lealdade foram o custo dos serviços prestados, a avaliação do ambiente, os procedimentos e serviços, o acesso aos provedores de saúde, como equipe médica e de enfermagem, e o fornecimento de informações sobre a assistência (Rostami et al, 2019).…”

“…Foram relacionadas ainda ao construto satisfação do paciente as variáveis experiências do paciente (Min et al, 2019) e valor percebido do serviço (Pevec & Pisnik, 2018).…”

“…Em relação às experiências do paciente, quanto mais positivas, maior o nível de satisfação e lealdade dos pacientes com a organização. Em uma pesquisa realizada em dez hospitais públicos da China, fatores como o respeito às preferências dos pacientes e a continuidade da assistência foram fortemente correlacionados com a satisfação do paciente em geral (Min et al, 2019).…”