Assessing patient satisfaction with healthcare services at outpatient   Urology Department of a tertiary hospital in Singapore

Yanika Kowitlawakul; Tan Jian Zhi; Ho Shu Qin; Lata Raman Nee Mani; Piyanee Yobas; Chan Moon Fai

doi:10.5750/ejpch.v2i3.793

Assessing patient satisfaction with healthcare services at outpatient Urology Department of a tertiary hospital in Singapore

Yanika Kowitlawakul, Tan Jian Zhi, Ho Shu Qin, Lata Raman Nee Mani, Piyanee Yobas, Chan Moon Fai

Abstract

Objectives The patient satisfaction assessment at an outpatient Urology Centre in Singapore was based on one single question and it has failed to provide a direction of the areas for improvement. The objectives of this study were to identify the levels of patients’ satisfaction with health care services, the differences in general satisfaction within patients’ socio-demographic characteristics, and the most influential factor of healthcare services in predicting patients’ satisfaction.

Method The study is a cross-sectional descriptive study design, using a validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) in both English and Chinese language. A total of 450 outpatients (85.1% response rate) participated in the study.

Results In general, patients were moderately satisfied with healthcare services at the outpatient Urology Centre services. The satisfaction level was significantly higher for elderly patients compared with young and middle-aged adults. Patients of private paying class were more satisfied with the services than those who were in the subsidized paying class. Doctors were found to be the most influential domain in predicting patients’ general satisfaction, followed by nurses. About 56% of variance in general patient satisfaction was explained by doctors, nurses, access of care, appointments and facilities (R²=0.56).

Conclusions The moderate satisfaction scores imply that there is room for improvement in the quality of healthcare services delivery system. As doctors and nurses were identified as the strongest predictors of general satisfaction, this knowledge could allow nursing, medical education and management to develop strategies which will further increase the level of patient satisfaction.

Keywords

Clinical communication, medication adherence, methodology, patient education, patient satisfaction, person-centered healthcare, quality, urology

Full Text:

PDF

References

Chow, A., Mayer, E.K., Darzi, A.W. & Athanasiou, T. (2009). Patient-reported outcome measures: The importance of patient satisfaction in surgery. Surgery 146 (3) 435-443.

Draper, M., Cohen, P. & Buchan, H. (2001). Seeking consumer views: what use are results of hospital patient satisfaction surveys? International Journal for Quality in Health Care 13 (6) 463-468.

Hekkert, K.D., Cihangir, S., Kleefstra, S.M., Van den Berg, B. & Kool, R. (2009). Patient satisfaction revisited: A multilevel approach. Social Science and Medicine 69 (1) 68-75.

Shaw, C., Williams, K., Assassa, P. & Jackson, C. (2000). Patient satisfaction with urodynamics: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 32 (6) 1356-1363.

Gonzalez, N., Quintana, J., Bilbao, A., Escobar, A., Aizpuru, F., Thompson, A., Esteban, C., San Sebastian, J.A. & De la Sierra, E. (2005). Development and validation of an in-patient satisfaction questionnaire. International Journal for Quality in Health Care 17 (6) 465-472.

Hawthorne, G. (2006). Review of Patient Satisfaction Measures. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra.

Glick, P. (2009). How reliable are surveys of client satisfaction with healthcare services? Evidence from matched facility and household data in Madagascar. Social Science & Medicine 68 (2) 368-379.

Mira, J., Tomás, O., Virtudes-Pérez, M., Nebot, C. & Rodríguez-Marín, J. (2009). Predictors of patient satisfaction in surgery. Surgery 145 (5) 536-541.

Tehrani, A.B., Feldman, S.R., Camacho, F.T. & Balkrishnan, R. (2011). Patient satisfaction with outpatient medical care in the United States. Health Outcomes Research in Medicine 2 (4) e197-e202.

Chahal, H., Sharma, R. & Gupta, M. (2004). Patient satisfaction in public outpatient health care services. Journal of Health Management 6 (1) 23-45.

Quinn, G., Jacobsen, P., Albrecht, T., Ellison, B., Newman, N., Bell, M. & Ruckdeschel, J. (2004). Real-time patient satisfaction survey and improvement process. Hospital Topics 82 (3) 26-32.

Lee, J.Y., Lee, T.Y., Park, H.Y., Choi, H.Y., Yoo, T.K., Moon, H.S., Han, J.H., Park, S.Y. & Lee, S.W. (2011). Efficacy of epididymectomy in treatment of chronic epididymal pain: A comparison of patients with and without a history of vasectomy. Urology 77 (1) 177-182.

Lee, J.Y., Chang, J.S., Lee S.H., Ham, W.S., Cho, H.J., Yoo, T.K., Lee, K.S., Kim, T.H., Moon, H.S., Choi, H.Y. & Lee, S.W. (2012). Efficacy of vasectomy reversal according to patency for the surgical treatment of postvasectomy pain syndrome. International Journal of Impotence Research 24 (5) 1-4.

Maliski, S.L., Kwan, L., Krupski, T., Fink, A., Orecklin, J.R. & Litwin, M.S. (2004). Confidence in the ability to communicate with physicians among low-income patients with prostate cancer. Urology 64 (2) 329-334.

Grogan, S., Conner, M., Norman, P., Willits, D. & Porter, I. (2000). Validation of a questionnaire measuring patient satisfaction with general practitioner services. Quality in Health Care 9 (4) 210-215.

Nabbuye-Sekandi, J., Makumbi, F., Kasangaki, A., Kizza, I., Tugumisirize, J., Nshimye, E., Mbabali, S. & Peters, D.H. (2011). Patient satisfaction with services in outpatient clinics at Mulago hospital, Uganda. International Journal for Quality in Health Care 23 (5) 516-523.

Ware, J.E., Snyder, M.K., Wright, W.R. & Davies, A.R. (1983). Defining and measuring patient satisfaction with medical care. Evaluation and Programme Planning 6 (3/4) 247-263.

Grogan, S., Conner, M., Willits, D. & Norman, P. (1995). Development of a questionnaire to measure patients’ satisfaction with general practitioners’ services. British Journal of General Practice 45 (399) 525-529.

Brislin, R.W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 1 (3) 185-216.

Hayes, R.P. & Baker, D.W. (1998). Methodological problems in comparing English-speaking and Spanish-speaking patients’ satisfaction with interpersonal aspects of care. Medical Care 36, 230-236.

Jackson, J.L., Chamberlin, J. & Kroenke, K. (2001). Predictors of patient satisfaction. Social Science and Medicine 52, 609-620.

Low, Y.S. & Lim, J. (2008). Subsidised patients are less satisfied with specialist outpatient services. Retrieved from http://www.singhealth.com.sg/NR/rdonlyres/5066931D-B24B-44A3-BB23-4BFA88371602/9283/HSRSubsidisedPatients4.pdf

Lemos, P., Pinto, A., Morais, G., Pereira, J., Loureiro, R., Teixeira, S. & Nunes, C.S. (2009). Patient satisfaction following day surgery. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia 21 (3) 200-205.

Marschall-Kehrel, D., Roberts, R.G. & Brubaker, L. (2006). Patient-reported outcomes in overactive bladder: The influence of perception of condition and expectation for treatment benefit. Urology 68 (Supplement 2) 29-37.

Palese, A., Tomietto, M., Suhonen, R., Eftathiou, G., Tsangari, H., Merkouris, A., Jarosova, D., Leino-Kilpi, H., Patiraki, E., Karlou, C., Balogh, Z. & Papastavrou, E. (2011). Surgical Patient Satisfaction as an Outcome of Nurses' Caring Behaviors: A Descriptive and Correlational Study in Six European Countries. Journal of Nursing Scholarship 43 (4) 341-350.

Berry, L.L., Wall, E.A. & Carbone, L.P. (2006). Service clues and customer assessment of the service experience: Lessons from Marketing. Academy of Management Perspectives 20 (2) 43-57.

Sackett, D.L. (1979). Bias in analytic research. Journal of Chronic Diseases 32 (1-2) 51-63.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5750/ejpch.v2i3.793

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.