Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.
OBJECTIVE
To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital.


METHODS
Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals.


METHODS
Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan.


METHODS
A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone.


METHODS
Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment.


RESULTS
Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories.


CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.
Cheng
Shou-Hsia
SH
Institute of Health Policy & Management and Center for Health Policy Research, National Taiwan University, College of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan. shcheng@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
Yang
Ming-Chin
MC
Chiang
Tung-Liang
TL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006760:Hospitalization; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013624:Taiwan