[Perceptions of providers and clients about management and satisfaction with services in two public hospitals].
BACKGROUND
Clients and providers of health care can have contrasting perceptions about the quality of service. Provider perceptions are mostly devoted to design and delivery of services while those of clients are focused in the attention received.


OBJECTIVE
To assess perceptions of health care providers and clients about client management and satisfaction with services provided.


METHODS
Two public hospitals were surveyed. A qualitative analysis was performed first, reviewing reports and patient data bases and through informal meetings with providers and clients. In a second phase, an enquiry with Likert type questions was devised and answered by a total of 377 providers and 400 clients from both hospitals.


RESULTS
The median perception of clients about the quality of service was better than that of providers in both hospitals. The communication of hospitals with clients to offer timely information received a poor evaluation both from providers and clients. However the concern of hospitals about health care of the community was considered adequate. The degree of satisfaction with concrete issues such as information panels and physical infrastructure received similar evaluation both by providers and clients.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis can be useful for management decision making, identifying strengths and weaknesses of health care provided by these two public hospitals. This type of assessment can be replicated in other public and private health care facilities.
Riveros
Jorge
J
Instituto de Administración, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile. jriveros@uach.cl
Berné
Carmen
C
Múgica
José M
JM
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002677:Chile; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006296:Health Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires