Determinants of primary healthcare patients’ dissatisfaction with the quality of provided medical services

Abstract

Introduction The quality of medical services and health care are complex problems with a number of various definitions, conceptual approaches, measurement tools and techniques. The most important influence on quality in primary health care has the (immaterial) human factor, the relationship between patient and doctor, medical personnel and the primary health care institution, and the skill to use new technologies to improve quality in health care. Objective The aim of the study is to discover the determinants of primary health care patients’ dissatisfaction with the quality of medical services. Material and methods Patients with medical appointments on the day of the survey and gave their consent to participate were included in the study. A total of 901 patients of primary health care institutions [591 (65.59%) women and 310 (34.41%) men] in the Świętokrzyskie Province took part. The diagnostic poll method based on a questionnaire examining the patients’ satisfaction with the quality of health services was used. Logistic regression identified the determinants of dissatisfaction of the patients. Results The determinants that mostly affected the patients’ dissatisfaction with medical services were: rudeness of the doctor (p=0.0001), rudeness of the rest of medical staff (p=0.0001), non-comprehensibility of information about health by the patient (p=0.004), no clear identification of the patient in the health care system (p=0.01), and difficult access to information regarding the health condition (medical documentation) (p=0.018). Conclusions Primary health care patients who participated in the study pointed to the attitude of the doctor towards a patient during a visit, and the attitude of the remaining medical personnel among the determinants of dissatisfaction with medical services.

Keywords

• primary health care
• quality of medical services
• patient
• e-health