Health status and satisfaction with health care: a longitudinal study among patients served by the Veterans Health Administration.
As the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) places high priority on becoming a performance-based organization, there is an increasing need to quantify and refine its outcome measurement system. Using panel data from VHA ambulatory care patients (1996-1998), we conducted cross-lagged correlations and ordinary least squares regression to examine the relationship between 2 VHA health care values: health status and satisfaction with care. The study results indicated that patients' health status was significantly associated with their satisfaction with care, indicating that patients with better health status were more likely to be satisfied with health care. Although satisfaction with care was both a consequence and a determinant of health status, the effects of health status on satisfaction seemed to be more important than the effects of satisfaction on health status. More research is needed for a better understanding of the dynamic relationship between health status and satisfaction with care.
Ren
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XS
Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economoic Research, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 200 Springs Rd, Bldg 70, Bedford, MA 01730, USA. xsren@bu.edu
Kazis
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Lee
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A
Rogers
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W
Pendergrass
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S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs