Patient satisfaction determinants in public and private outpatient clinics in a developing country

Background We aimed to assess satisfaction determinants in public and private outpatient clinics. Methods We did a cross sectional survey in Soba university hospital outpatient clinic in October 2015. We included all adult patients and companions came to outpatient clinic. We assessed demographic data and patient satisfaction towards private and public hospitals outpatient clinic experience. We used the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ-18) to assess patient satisfaction. We recruited 400 participants randomly and took verbal consent. Results Around 58% were females and 42% were males with mean age of 34 years. Around 40% of participants have below average satisfaction towards communication in both public and private clinics, yet, the overall satisfaction was average. Furthermore, only around 20% of participants were dissatisfied with accessibility to both private and public clinics. In contrast, Almost 60% in public and 75% in private clinics were dissatisfied about time spent with doctor. Moreover, time spent with doctor was the most dissatisfactory aspect in both public and private clinics (mean was 1.98 and 2.21 respectively). The technical quality satisfaction was similar (mean=3.42). Patients and companions in public clinics were more content about general satisfaction, finance, and communication compared to experience in private clinics (P values were 0.022, 0.00, and 0.035 respectively), while the reverse is correct for interpersonal manner and time spent with doctor (P<0.001). Rural residents were satisfied more with accessibility of public clinics rather than private ones (P=0.015). Conclusion Time spent with doctor is the major concern, whereas having insurance appears to improve satisfaction significantly.