Satisfaction of war survivors and their families who received outpatient services with complementary medical insurance

Abstract

Purpose Access to comprehensive, quality health care services is important for the achievement of health equity and for increasing the quality of a healthy life for everyone. Insurance coverage increases the accessibility of services and is an important factor in health services utilization. Assessing patient satisfaction will be helpful in detecting quality gap and bottlenecks of service providing processes. The purpose of this paper is to to assess the satisfaction of complementary insurance schema of Iran Veterans and Martyrs Affair Foundation (VMAF) for receiving outpatient visits. Design/methodology/approach This was a cross-sectional study. The study population was veterans and their families and as well as Martyrs’ families. In this survey, 1,823 cases were selected using the random sampling method. Data were gathered by a questionnaire. The questionnaire validity and reliability was tested. The questionnaires were completed based on telephone interviewing. The questionnaires were completed for the last family use of complementary insurance for receiving medical services. The SPSS statistical software was used for data analysis. Findings A total of 1,823 cases used their complementary insurance that were studied. About 32.9 percent of studied cases were Martyrs’ families and the others were veterans and their family members. The satisfaction level was assessed from different dimensions: respondents were highly satisfied from outpatient visits. The satisfaction of process of receiving visit payment was the lowest. The factors associated with the risk of dissatisfaction are tested by using logistic regression. Analysis indicated that living in rural areas and being a martyr family increase the risk of dissatisfaction from the distance to an outpatient center. Originality/value Satisfaction is a multi-dimensional factor that reveals different aspects of services. It is possible that the satisfaction level in different dimensions of care was not the same. This study indicated that complementary health care insurance provided by the VMAF is good from care receivers’ perspective. But some consideration is necessary for improving that access of under-coverage population in remote districts and rural areas and process of receiving visit payment.