CLIENTS’ SATISFACTION WITH REFERRAL SYSTEM IN KARBALA

Abstract

Referral is a dynamic process and it had been recognized as crucial since the Alma Ata declaration in 1978. Hospitals are overcrowded with patients who could be more cheaply treated in smaller facilities is a common feature of poorly functioning Referral System (RS). Client Satisfaction (CS) is an important parameter in the assessment of health care quality. A descriptive cross sectional study conducted to measure CS with RS in Karbala province in Iraq. A special questionnaire based on 5 points Likert scale prepared for this purpose and been testes in a pilot study. T test were used to compare means of satisfaction. A total 726 clients from four hospitals and eight randomly selected Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) were interviewed. The mean age of the group was 33.4±9 years and females form 56.3% of clients. CS with RS was 19% strongly satisfied, 45.7% satisfied, 7% fairly satisfied, 22.2% dissatisfied and 6.3% strongly dissatisfied. On a score of five the overall satisfaction with RS was 3.49±1.21. Females had higher satisfaction with RS than males (p = 0.004), also PHCCs clients showed higher satisfaction than hospitals clients (p = 0.009).

Patient Satisfaction in Primary Health Care Centers in Hail City, Saudi Arabia

“…Patients in the lower income categories perceived they had better access to medical care than patients in the highest income category. The relationships between the sociodemographic characteristics of patients and their different dimensions of satisfaction may help healthcare providers to meet the different needs of patients based on their gender, age and socio-economic status (Abutiheen, 2014;Mercer et al, 2008;Lin et al, 2010).…”

Client Satisfaction to Referral Service and Associated Factors Among Health Centers in Tigray, Ethiopia, 2019

“…But there was no association between the other socio-demographic factors and referral satisfaction. 4 A similar study done in Nigeria also showed that 53.2% of patients were satisfied with the referral process of primary care. 5 Difficulty in obtaining referral request, delayed response, getting approval was time-consuming and difficult, and the hospital did not communicate with referred health facility on time were the possible reasons described for the dissatisfaction.…”

“…This result is lower as compared to the study done in Nigeria (52.3%), 5 and Iraq (67%). 4 The possible reason for the difference could be the difference in the availability of essential resources, both human (staff number and skill to manage the referral), and physical (infrastructure, transport), and as well as communication and coordination of the referring and receiving health facilities. The overall satisfaction rate toward referral was consistent with studies conducted in other services such as inpatient service satisfaction 46.2%, 12 which is higher than studies done in the outpatient service satisfaction 27.8%.…”

“…Based on the study done in Iraq 67% of patients were satisfied with the referral process of primary health care. 4 The sex of the client was a statistically significant factor in which females were highly satisfied than males. But there was no association between the other socio-demographic factors and referral satisfaction.…”

Spectrum of Ground Glass Opacities in Chest CT of COVID-19 Patients in Karbala, Iraq

“…The holy city is attended by tens of million visitors each year, and several big mass gathering visits including the Arbaeen visit, which represents the biggest annual mass gathering in the world occur in Karbala. 16 This study aims to describe CT scans' findings of COVID-19 patients, particularly GGOs, and to estimate the association between these opacities and the time of clinical presentation.…”