Patient satisfaction and willingness to return to the provider among women undergoing gynecological surgery.

PURPOSE

To identify factors associated with 'patient satisfaction' and 'willingness to return to the provider' in gynecology and to assess similarities as well as differences between the two concepts.

METHODS

Study data were obtained from 968 randomly selected gynecology patients discharged from 22 hospitals who responded to a mailed survey. The validated instrument consisted of 37 items and assessed medical and service aspects of care, patient and visit characteristics. The dependent variables consisted of ratings of willingness to return to the provider and overall satisfaction. Bivariate and multivariate techniques were used to reveal relationships between indicators and both dependent variables.

RESULTS

The multivariate analyses identified individualized medical care, kindness of medical practitioners, treatment outcome and organization of discharge as the most consistent predictors of the patients' likelihood to return and overall satisfaction. Differences between both concepts pertained to the significance of service variables (cleanliness and quality of food) for patient satisfaction and visit-related characteristics (length of stay and occurrence of complications) for willingness to return.

CONCLUSIONS

Study findings suggest that patient satisfaction and willingness to return to the provider do not reflect the same concepts. Although service aspects such as quality of food influence satisfaction ratings, they do not increase the likelihood that patients choose the same hospital in case of another treatment. Communication between patients and medical practitioners is highly important. Revealed predictors of both concepts are alterable by healthcare professionals and should be focused on to enhance patient satisfaction and to increase the probability patients return to their provider.