Patient satisfaction between primary care providers and hospitals: a cross-sectional survey in Jilin province, China.

OBJECTIVE

To assess patient satisfaction with outpatient and inpatient care between primary care providers and secondary/tertiary hospitals, and to examine its association with socio-demographic characteristics and type of institution, based on self-reported survey data.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

Healthcare facilities within Jilin province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 993 outpatients and 925 inpatients aged ≥15 years old were recruited.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Patient satisfaction with the care experience.

RESULTS

Patient satisfaction with outpatient and inpatient care was significantly associated with type of healthcare delivery setting in Jilin, China. Seeking outpatient care from community health centers (CHCs) was significantly associated with a higher ratio of patient satisfaction. Patients of county and tertiary hospitals complained about long-waiting times, bad attitudes of health workers, high expense of treatment, and their overall satisfaction towards outpatient care was lower. In the terms of inpatient care, patients were more satisfied with treatment expense in CHCs compared with county hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

CHCs and hospitals face different challenges regarding patient satisfaction. Further healthcare reform in China need to adopt more measures (e.g. increasing quality of primary care, setting up a referral medical system etc.) to improve patient satisfaction.