Patient satisfaction assesses patients' expectations and whether those expectations were met. The patient experience considers whether various aspects of care occurred (such as clear communication with providers) and how often. Patient satisfaction is a measure of a patient's degree of satisfaction with their medical care. While the terms “patient satisfaction” and “patient experience” are sometimes used interchangeably, they are actually two different concepts.
A patient's experience is based on what should happen during their consultation and whether that actually happened, while patient satisfaction is based on whether the patient's expectations about what should happen were met. In other words, we must address patient expectations and provide a medically sound experience. Patient satisfaction is a measure of the degree to which a patient is satisfied with the medical care they have received from their healthcare provider. Patient satisfaction is one of the most important factors in determining the success of a healthcare facility. The purpose of this study was to determine patient satisfaction with health services and to encompass physician behavior as a moderation between patient satisfaction and health care services.
The study seeks to measure patient satisfaction in Pakistan's public health sectors from health care services, such as laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive care and prenatal care. For this study, a research design using descriptive surveys was used. The target population was patients from the outpatient department (OPD) of three public hospitals in Pakistan. Using the practical sampling technique, 290 participants were selected from the target population.
Reliability scales were calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The results of the study are obtained using regression to explore patient satisfaction with health care services and to determine whether or not physician behavior moderates the relationship between patient satisfaction and health care services. The Hayes SPSS process was used to evaluate the moderating effect of physician behavior. The main results of the regression analysis validate that health care services, such as laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive health care and prenatal care, have a significant and positive effect on patient satisfaction.
Specifically, the study suggests that physician behavior significantly moderates the effect of health care services on patient satisfaction. Overall opinions about the level of patient satisfaction with the availability of health services in hospitals were good. Satisfaction was satisfactory with regard to laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive medical care and prenatal care services. Based on the results, the study confirms that the proposed hypotheses are statistically significant. In addition, instructions are provided for future research in the study.
Three general objectives have shaped HCAHPS. First, the survey is designed to produce data on patients' perspectives with regard to care that allow objective and meaningful comparisons to be made between hospitals on topics such as important for consumers. Second, the public presentation of survey results creates new incentives for hospitals to improve the quality of care. Third, public reporting serves to improve accountability in health care by increasing the transparency of the quality of hospital care provided in exchange for public investment.
With these objectives in mind, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the HCAHPS project team have taken important steps to ensure that the survey is credible, useful and practical. Research shows that high patient satisfaction can be an indicator of better clinical outcomes. A hospital study involving 6,467 patients correlated increased patient satisfaction with better adherence to guidelines and lower hospital mortality in acute myocardial infarction.2 Another study, which used a nationally representative sample of 36,428 patients and was monitored according to the severity of the disease, found that higher patient satisfaction was associated with lower use of the emergency department, greater use of hospitalized patients, greater overall expenditure on care medical and prescription drugs and increased mortality. Effectiveness, when the efficiency of a hospital is associated with the provision of services and quality care.
Public health centers and hospitals must improve their facilities and provide better services in developing countries. Some of these outpatient services that the patient receives include general health services, such as triage, health promotion and preventive services, and general medical, surgical, pediatric and maternal services, which offer this line of primary care treatments in a safe and pleasant environment. However, the current study examined this gap and confirmed that physician behavior has an optimistic and positive moderating influence on the correlation between health services (laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive health care and prenatal care) and patient satisfaction. The findings of this study would help health professionals and policymakers to develop strategies and focus on improving service delivery areas to help improve customer satisfaction. And while these phrases may seem self-explanatory, health professionals need to know a certain underlying context, both when it comes to satisfaction and the patient experience.
Patient satisfaction surveys are here to stay, and several versions of the CAHPS (consumer evaluation of healthcare providers and systems) survey from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have been incorporated into several Medicare quality initiatives. Study of the physical environment of waiting rooms and its effects on patient satisfaction, experience, perceived waiting time and behavior in China. Patient satisfaction and health care services (laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive health care and prenatal care) have a positive and significant association. Patient satisfaction, as well as laboratory and diagnostic care, has a positive correlation with (r = 0.260); preventive health care has a positive correlation with (r = 0.34); prenatal care has a positive correlation with (r = 0.43) and physician behavior has a positive correlation with (r = 0.25) with patient satisfaction.
The feedback provided by the patient helps to improve the doctor's work, the place, and also the system. This study identifies the relationship between health services (laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive health care and prenatal care) and patient satisfaction with the moderating role of the physician's behavior. Based on the literature, the authors did not find any studies of this type in Pakistan on patient satisfaction, especially with regard to the following health services, such as laboratory work with diagnostic care, preventive health care, prenatal care, and the doctor's behavior as moderator. The model described in this study affirms that improving health care services, such as laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive care and prenatal care, improves patient satisfaction (hypotheses 1 to 3, respectively).
Successful education increases patient satisfaction and translates into better adherence to treatment and, therefore, a better outcome. In this study, health care services, such as laboratory and diagnostic care, preventive health care, and prenatal care, are explanatory variables and patient satisfaction is the outcome variable, and physician behavior is used as a moderating variable.
