Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to determine the factors that influence patient satisfaction with ecdemic medical care.
Materials and methods
Eight hundred and forty-four face-to-face interviews were conducted between October and November 2017 in two high-profile hospitals in Nanchang, China. Patient satisfaction was divided into lowest and highest satisfaction groups according the 80/20 rule. Demographic factors associated with patient satisfaction were identified by logistic regression models.
Results
Respondents’ main reasons for choosing a non-local hospital were “high level of medical treatment” (581/844), “good reputation of the hospital” (533/844), and “advanced medical equipment” (417/844). The top three items that dissatisfied the ecdemic patients were “long time to wait for treatment” (553/844), “complicated formalities” (307/844), and “poor overall service attitude” (288/844). Fewer female patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.03–2.11), patients with a family per-capita monthly income (FPMI) between 3,001 and 5,000 CNY (AOR =1.40, 95% CI =1.01–2.17), inpatients (AOR =1.46, 95% CI =1.01–2.13), and more patients with an FPMI >7,000 CNY (AOR =0.43, 95% CI =0.20–0.92) were detected in the lowest satisfaction group. Fewer patients with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree (AOR =2.40, 95% CI =1.37–4.20) and patients with an FPMI >7,000 CNY (AOR =3.02, 95% CI =1.10–8.33) were detected in the highest satisfaction group. Moreover, more inpatients (AOR =0.70, 95% CI =0.54–0.97) and those aged 46–65 years (AOR =0.63, 95% CI =0.33–0.98) were detected in the highest satisfaction group.
Conclusion
Findings suggested that managers of the medical facilities should note the importance of increasing their publicity through a rapidly developing media, as well as the necessity of creating a more patient-friendly medical care experience. Hospitals should also focus on the medical care experience of patients with relatively lower and higher income levels, male ecdemic patients, and ecdemic outpatients.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by an internal grant from Wuhan University and the Postgraduate Innovation Project (No YC2015-S039). We wish to thank Dr Mingyang Wu from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Prof Dr Zhaokang Yuan, Fei Xie, Xiaoqing Jiang, and other graduate students from the Medical School of Nanchang University for their specific contributions in data collection. We also gratefully acknowledge the assistance and cooperation from the related hospitals and the research participants who contributed their time and effort for this study.
Author contributions
All authors have approved the content of the submitted manuscript. Dr Xiaojun Liu and Prof Zongfu Mao conceived and designed the study; Dr Xiaojun Liu and research team partners from other units collected data; Dr Xiaojun Liu, Hanson Lu, Yanan Wang, Wenjie Wang, Anran Tan, and Zhaoxun Hou contributed to data analysis and wrote the manuscript; Prof Zongfu Mao, Dr Xiaojun Liu, and Hanson Lu revised the manuscript.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.