Improving People’s Self-Reported Experience with the Health Services: The Role of Non-Clinical Factors

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to analyse the association between non-clinical factors and the self-reported experience of people with the main health services of the Spanish public healthcare system. Specifically, we analysed whether factors such as the treatment received from health staff, the confidence transmitted to the patient by the doctor, or waiting time for a diagnostic test had an influence on people reporting a more satisfactory experience with primary, specialised, and hospital care services. We used cross-sectional microdata from the Spanish Healthcare Barometer survey of 2015 comprising a sample of 7800 individuals. We applied a probit-adapted ordinary least squares estimation, which is one of the most widely used methods in recent studies on subjective well-being. Our findings suggest that individuals’ interaction with non-clinical factors was positively correlated with the overall health services experience. Treatment received from health staff was one of the most relevant factors to ensure that individuals report a more satisfactory experience with primary care. Time devoted by physicians to each patient and waiting time for a non-emergency admission were the most correlated factors in specialised and hospital care services, respectively. This study could have implications for public policies. First, it shows policy-makers the influence of non-clinical factors when individuals rate their overall experience with the main health services in Spain. Second, it identifies the key factors where the health system could reallocate more public resources to improve people’s experience and thus the health system responsiveness.

Analysis of Patient Satisfaction through the Effect of Healthcare Spending on Waiting Times for Consultations and Operations

“…Furthermore, our results also indicated that, in line with previous research, increased healthcare spending influenced patient satisfaction indirectly by reducing waiting times for consultations and operations [ 10 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Moreover, this research performed an in-depth analysis of the influence of healthcare expenditure on patient satisfaction by investigating the mediating effect of both consultant waiting times and operation waiting times simultaneously and sequentially.…”

“…Likewise, increases in healthcare spending will indirectly improve patient satisfaction by reducing waiting times for both consultations and operations. This relationship between healthcare spending and patient satisfaction has been demonstrated in previous studies [ 10 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. In addition, if consultant waiting times influence operation waiting times by delaying surgical interventions, then reductions in consultant waiting times will indirectly lead to increased patient satisfaction by reducing operation waiting times.…”

‘The nurse did not even greet me’: how informed versus non-informed patients evaluate health systems responsiveness in South Africa

“…Household survey respondents in South Africa report rudeness by healthcare workers as one of the deterrents to healthcare access. 33 Consequently, in addition to the medical or technical aspects of healthcare, policymakers should also focus on non-clinical factors to ensure that patients are satisfied with the public health service 34 and increase the possibility of further future engagements. The findings should be considered relative to the idea that the positivity of the patients does not in any way suggest that quality was very high, nor does it mean that patients were really satisfied with the quality of care they received.…”

Using Higher-Order Constructs to Estimate Health-Disease Status: The Effect of Health System Performance and Sustainability

“…Additionally, previous studies indicate that when patients are allowed to participate in medical treatment decisions, they are more satisfied [20,54,55]. Other factors that influence a patient's satisfaction are confidence in the health system's professionals [23,26,29,55,56], the physician's behavior [26,29,32,55,56], and the degree of patient follow-up [29,57]. In their study, Ricci-Cabello et al found that those patients who had a pleasant experience in medical care reported better self-perceived health [51].…”

“…In other words, we must provide the best possible health service to improve the patient's health status, with the lowest waste of resources possible [13,34]. Budget cuts in health matters are increasingly frequent [14,55,56], so it is increasingly important to focus on sustainability, that is, to offer services of excellence while being efficient in the use of resources and the application of expenses [30,35,60].…”