Comparison of patients' experiences in public and private primary care clinics in Malta.
Demographic changes, technological developments and rising expectations require the analysis of public-private primary care (PC) service provision to inform policy makers. We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study using the dataset of the Maltese arm of the QUALICOPC Project to compare the PC patients' experiences provided by public-funded and private (independent) general practitioners in Malta. Seven hundred patients from 70 clinics completed a self-administered questionnaire. Direct logistic regression showed that patients visiting the private sector experienced better continuity of care with more difficulty in accessing out-of-hours care. Such findings help to improve (primary) healthcare service provision and resource allocation.
1 Department of Family Medicine, University of Malta, Msida, Malta 2 Primary Health Care Department, Floriana, Malta glorianneb@gmail.com.
Glorianne
G
Pullicino
1 Department of Family Medicine, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
Philip
P
Sciortino
3 Department of Public Health, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
Neville
N
Calleja
4 Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Willemijn
W
Schäfer
4 Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Wienke
W
Boerma
4 Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Peter
P
Groenewegen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D039602:After-Hours Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008319:Malta; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult