Clinicians’ perceived quality of laboratory services provided at public hospitals and primary health centres in northeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Satisfaction is a key measure of quality performance and an important tool for continual improvement. This study aimed to assess clinicians’ satisfaction with laboratory services delivered at public hospitals and health centres. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in northeast Ethiopia from May to June 2019. A total of 224 clinicians were randomly selected from 8 public hospitals and 24 health centres. Satisfaction with multiple aspects of laboratory services was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire, on a rating scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 points (very satisfied). Laboratory quality assessment was performed using WHO-AFRO’s stepwise accreditation checklist. Multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to determine the association of factors with clinicians’ overall satisfaction level using STATA ver14.1. A p- value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Overall, the majority (72.8%) of clinicians were satisfied. A higher percentage of clinicians were satisfied in hospitals than in primary health centres (56.0% vs. 76.8%, p = 0.003). The lowest mean ratings were obtained for the helpfulness of the user handbook (3.3), provision of STAT/urgent services (3.7) and adequacy of the test menu provided (3.8). The clinicians’ timely receipt of results, notification of panic results and perceived reliability of results, as well as the laboratories’ concordance rate of malaria microscopy results (based on blinded slide rechecking), were significantly associated with clinicians’ satisfaction (all, p ≤ 0.036). There were no associations with socio-demographic characteristics, stepwise accreditation level or star grade of the laboratories (p- values > 0.05). Conclusions More clinicians were dissatisfied with the services of the larger hospital laboratories than those of the primary health centres. Improvements need to emphasize the identified specific gaps related to both users’ experiences and technical quality aspects.

Medical Laboratories Quality Management and Challenges in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review

“…53 The overall customer satisfaction level in most Ethiopian medical laboratories was below this benchmark satisfaction level. [29][30][31][32][33] Accessing quality laboratory services is a challenge in low-resource countries. 54 According to this review, the main challenges of laboratory service were problems associated with laboratory professionals, 11,13,15,19 inadequate support from management bodies, 11,15,16,45 high workload 27 and limited on job training access.…”

“…31 In one study, the clinician's (medical doctors, nurses and health officers) satisfaction level with clinical laboratory services was 72.8%. 32 However, the pooled client satisfaction level with medical laboratory services was 66%. 33…”

“…The main problems were improper provision of information, 30,33,34 lack of commitment, 11,12,17,22,35,36 poor professional skill, 15,18,19,21,23,24,32,37,38 poor communication, [31][32][33]35 poor internal quality control practice 19,23,29,35,36,39,40 and inadequate utilization of laboratory documents. 13,14,31,32,35,40,41 Inadequate Support from Management Bodies…”