The balance of patient and learners needs in non-profit, public and for-profit teaching hospitals: An analysis of average patient satisfaction ratings of hospitals on a German hospital rating platform

ABSTRACT

Background: Teaching hospitals have to balance patient and learner needs in their daily routines. To respond to these challenges, non-profit hospitals may perform differently than public and for-profit hospitals because of their non-distribution constraint.

Purposes: This study analyzes patient satisfaction data of non-profit teaching hospitals in comparison to teaching hospitals with for-profit and public ownership status. Patient satisfaction is assumed to be an indicator of how patient needs are met regardless of the teaching goals.

Approach: The average patient satisfaction ratings for German hospitals (n = 1461) that were published on the ‘klinikbewertungen.de’ German hospital rating platform were collected for a cross-section analysis.

Findings: The data show that non-profit teaching hospitals are better rated than for-profit and public teaching hospitals. Non-profit hospitals seem to be more competent in handling the balance between societies’ needs for clinical training and patient needs for a favorable service experience.

Practice implications: For-profits hospitals should revisit their business model once they get involved in the provision of public values such as education.

KEYWORDS:

• Non-profit
• ownership status
• teaching hospitals
• patient satisfaction

Acknowledgments

The authors confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial or material support for this work that could have influenced its outcome.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Florian Liberatore is lecturer and senior project manager at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. His main field of research is health care management and nonprofit management. He finished his PhD and his postdoctoral studies at the University of Freiburg in Germany.

Prof. Dr. Alfred Angerer is the head of the section “Health care management” at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. His main field of research is health care management and lean management. He finished his PhD at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Sarah Dana Kriech is research associate at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. Her main field of research is social, organisational and business psychology. She finished her M.Sc at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.