Hospital Characteristics Associated with Patients’ Experience of Care in Korean Hospitals

Abstract

Obj ectives: This cross-sectional correlational study aimed to examine the hospital characteristics associated with patients' experiences of care reported by healthcare consumers in South Korea. Methods: This study used data from the second Korean Patient Experience Survey conducted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA). Additional hospital characteristics were obtained from the HIRA and Korea Institute for Healthcare Association websites. Results: In total, 149 hospitals were included. We found that high-technology hospitals had a significant relationship with the scores on all patient experience dimensions. Hospital nurse staffing levels, location, and high technology status were significantly associated with the nurse service dimension. Conclusions: Patient experience-of-care scores varied according to hospital characteristics. The findings of this study provide preliminary evidence for future research. Further research should examine patient and hospital characteristics that could affect patient experience of care scores in Korean hospitals.