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Patient Satisfaction in Public Verses in Private Health Care Facilities

Dorothy Pauline Browning

Research Writing

Keiser University

Professor Miller

February 23,2018

Abstract

Patient satisfaction is given the priority in most healthcare providers whether in public or private. Achieving this milestone takes into consideration, cost, infrastructure, and administrative procedures. Usually, public healthcare facilities are subsidized by the government thus making them less costly than private ones. Administrative systems are in most cases the same, but patient handling differs between the two categories. Reasonably, when a customer is handled well, and the cost of the service they are seeking is affordable, it is possible that they will be satisfied with the care being provided. However, most private hospitals have invested in infrastructure, which is a significant determinant of customer satisfaction. The amenities provides a sense of comfort for many patients regardless of the cost of services. The essay encompasses its arguments and research on three main supporting element that forms the basis of this research paper. The elements include affordability and convenience where it discusses on the correlation towards patient satisfaction. Secondly, infrastructure and amenities and how it results to patient satisfaction and the impact it has towards patient visiting a particular health care. Finally, the paper discusses the impacts of administrative procedures that result to patient satisfaction. Further, it explores the role of the administrative personnel has on patient satisfaction in regards to the services offered.

Patient Satisfaction in Public Verses in Private Health Care Facilities

One common denominator in any sector of the economy is ensuring customer satisfaction and different key elements play key roles. Customer is always at the center of any form of business that deals customers and thus many business strive to ensure they improve the quality of goods and services, embracing technology, and lowering operational cost (Shapiro, 2012). Health care facilities are no exceptional and they have to ensure that they can sustain value creation that satisfies their patients. In the last few decades, the demand for quality service has increased to reach unprecedented levels. This has resulted to both the public and private sectors to focus more on delivering quality services. The quality of the health service delivered in health care facilities have become a key factor in the success and sustainability of health care facilities which determine customer loyalty and satisfaction. As a result, patients are willing to pay extra cash so get the best services as they are aware of their opportunity cost (Wabo , Ortenwall , & Khorram-Manesh , 2012). There have been an emerging trend where patients are choosing hospitals wisely by examining and identifying health care that offer quality services. As such public and private health care management have to understand such factors that play a huge role in ensuring customer satisfaction in their planning and decision making to improve their services. Therefore, patient satisfaction is not primarily attribute to the patient perceptive of the health care facility they visit, however, factors such as cost, availability of infrastructure and administrative procedure tend to play a huge impact on the health care facility either public or private health care institute.

Accessibility, convenience and financial aspects play a huge role in the overall patient satisfaction level. It is the right of everyone globally to have access to affordable health care. Therefore, the cost of services rendered at a health care facility can have a positive impact on the level of patient satisfaction (Owusu-Frimpong, Nwankwo, & Dason, 2010). It is a common norm for people to seek reliable and affordable health care that will not make them dig too deep into their financials. Studies have indicated that patients tend to be satisfied when their health care providers can assist in accessing resources that cover their medical expenses.

Further, research have indicated that patients will in most cases base their decision on their health care provider on the cost of treatment. It also represent an approach where health care providers tend to be sensitive to patients ability to pay without undermining the decision for treatment. Both private and public health care facilities strive to ensure they can provide affordable health care to all (Mahapatra, 2013). Public health institutes are managed by the government and this makes the institutes less costly compare to the private sectors. When comparing this aspect and the relation towards customer satisfaction due to affordability, patients will opt for the public health care facilities as they do not dig deep into their financials. Consequently, people tend to seek reliable and affordable health care since it their right to affordable health care. Since affordability is the ability of a patient to pay for their health care services, lack of ability has been cited as the major reason for untimely health care access.

According to Ford (2017), it does not matter the number of health care facilities situated in a particular region to draw conclusions that residents are receiving sufficient health care service. Accessibility and convenience at a health care facility plays a role in the overall patient satisfaction. Accessibility is used to refer to the proximity of a health care facility and the ease in accessing them by transport. It implies the time take for a customer to get treated when they first report to the hospital lobby. Due to the fact that public health care facilities are less costly, this tends to bring issues of crowded hospital lobbies and a lot of time is taken waiting to see a doctor (Owusu-Frimpong, Nwankwo, & Dason, 2010). It has resulted to low patient satisfaction level since their counterparts; private health care facilities tend to have less crowded lobbies and it takes a shorter time for one to see a doctor. Therefore, long waiting time, inability to get transport to see a doctor plays a huge hindrance in the accessibility of health care services. Consequently, in regards to accessibility and conveniences, private health care facility tends to provide excellent customer satisfaction compared to the public health care facilities.

Patient satisfaction has drastically declined in the past decades due to poor health care infrastructure and amenities. As a result, both private and public health care facilities have increased their spending in attempt to improve their infrastructure making their personnel make better decisions (Mahapatra, 2013). Health care infrastructure and amenities include a modernized equipment, fully equipped laboratories, integration of health care service with technology among other services. A well-coordinated, high quality health care requires establishment of a supportive infrastructure. A health care facility that can ensure a well distribute personnel, updated data collection system, and clinical communication support can be termed to be a high performing facility. This attribute can attract many patients and it can guarantee patient satisfaction in regards to the services provided other factors held constant (Owusu-Frimpong, Nwankwo, & Dason, 2010). Consequently, better health care infrastructure plays a huge role in ensuring patient satisfaction this is because of the first impression that the patients get when they walk into a health facility.

The main difference between public health care facilities and private facilities is their investment in infrastructure. Public health care facilities are government by the government and all services and infrastructures tend to be generalizes across all government ran facilities (Afsar & Muhammad, 2017). In addition, the turnaround time taken by the government to purchase high end health care equipment is long compared to private health care facilities. As a result, private facilities tend to invest more on improving their infrastructure to ensure better and quality services rendered to patients. Further, private health care facilities have enhanced patient-doctor communication by adopting technology thus leading to an accurate and better medication. As a result, it is more common to find that many patients will tend to seek health care service from private health facilities despite the fact they tend to be costly than public health care facilities (Ford, 2017).

Consequently, in regards to infrastructure and amenities, private health care facilities are preferred to public facilities due to their ability to offer better services as they have better instruments that assist in better diagnostic and medication administering. Therefore, health globally can improve if huge investments are undertaken to improve health care facilities infrastructure. Better health care amenities and infrastructures refers to the better equipped laboratories, workforce training, reliable pharmaceutical supply and efficient mechanisms to distribute resources (Allen, 2013). In addition, better systems implies a health care facility is in a position to provide preventive, diagnostic and better care as per patient’s needs.

Administrative policies and procedures are the main backbone for a smoothly ran health care facilities. Administrative procedures can be defined as set of rules that help govern the procedures for managing a business. All health care facilities should have policies and procedures that monitor and assist in the management in the process in the facilities. A patient should be in a position to understand where they can get any kind of assistance once they report to a medical facility. The primary purpose of health care facilities is the ability to provide care to its patients and it should have policies and procedures in place. This includes admission and discharge process and all staff personnel should adhere to this policies (Hicks, 2014). Private health care facilities tend to have a strict and more accountability in terms of their policies. However, public facilities despite been ran by the government, staff are less accountable and will in most cases ignore or overlook various policies that in the long run tarnish the reputation of such facilities. As a result, patient satisfaction level in the public health facilities tend to be lower compared to private facilities.

Another aspect that result to patient satisfaction are the facilities personnel that directly interact with patients. Studies have shown that respectable and courteous personnel will have a positive impact on the level of patient satisfaction. For instance, Hicks (2014) in his article indicated that VA hospitals recorded over eighty-percent patient satisfaction mainly because the hospitals personnel were courteous. Therefore, administrative policies should ensure that they have competent personnel and perform frequent training to ensure that their workforce can be at their best foot when executing their tasks within the facilities (Allen, 2013). It should be noted that private hospital will tend to have different administrative procedures unlike public health care facilities that are generalized. This negatively impacts patient satisfaction level within public facilities unlike in private facilities that ensure that they insist on quality service provision to their patients and this results to professional workforce. It should be noted that better working conditions can also positively impact patient satisfaction and the management board should strive to provide better working conditions as this motivates their staff to perform exemplary (Janicijevic, Seke, Djokovic, & Filipovic, 2013). Therefore, ensuring competent work force can result to high levels of patient satisfaction and this can be achieved by frequent training, ensuring a better working environment and having motivations rewards for the best staff. This is main factor that tend to keep the private health facilities in a better position in regards to patient satisfaction that the public health care facilities.

In conclusion, the research faced some challenges where researches conducted in the past on patient satisfaction covered an extensive area and this made it difficult when it came to compiling relevant information. In addition, another key aspect the advancement of technology. It should be noted the time difference between the time publication and the present research presents a significant deviation due to innovations in technology. Reports published by either private or public hospitals may be misleading since most are purposefully used as marketing strategies to champion the agendas of the institutions. Lastly, continuous changes in patient preferences may be unpredictable.

The research have provided information regarding patient satisfaction and how cost, infrastructure and amenities, and administrative procedures determine the level of satisfaction. Private health care facilities tend to be preferred to public health care facilities due to various factors. The research have indicated that affordability of health care services plays a huge role in the determination of facilities of choice of the client, public health facilities tend to have a lower patient satisfaction level. This is attributed to poor trained personnel, poor infrastructure and amenities and a long wait time, and crowded lobbies. The results from the research should form a basis for further research to determine other key factors that determine the satisfaction levels of patients and assist health care facilities provide better and quality services.

Afsar, J., & Muhammad, I. (2017). Comparison of patients satisfaction in public and private teaching hospitals of Islamabad. Pakistan Journal of Medical Research, 56(3), 78-83.

Allen, L. C. (2013). Role of a quality system in improving patient safety-laboratory aspects. Clinical Biochemistry, 46(13-14), 1187-1193.

Ford, V. L. (2017). Financial Aspects and Accessibility and Convenience: New Mothers with Substance Use Disorders Satisfaction with Health Care Affordability and Accessibility. Integrative Journal of Global Health, 1(2), 1-7.

Hicks, J. (2014, April 17). VA hospitals on par with private sector for patient satisfaction. Retrieved February 22, 2018, from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2014/04/17/va-hospitals-on-par-with-private-sector-for-patient-satisfaction/?utm_term=.f04414ab5f69

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