Determinants of patient satisfaction with outpatient health services at public and private hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Patients have explicit desires or requests for services when they visit hospitals. However, inadequate discovery of their needs may result in patient dissatisfaction. This study aimed to determine the levels and determinants of patient satisfaction with outpatient health services provided at public and private hospitals in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from 27 March to 30 April 2010. The study included 5 private and 5 public hospitals. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling. A pre-tested and contextually prepared structured questionnaire was used to conduct interviews. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, factor analysis and multiple linear regressions were performed using computer software (SPSS 16.0). RESULTS: About 18.0% of the patients at the public hospitals were very satisfied whilst 47.9% were just satisfied with the corresponding proportions a bit higher at private hospitals. Self-judged health status, expectation about the services, perceived adequacy of consultation duration, perceived providers’ technical competency, perceived welcoming approach and perceived body signalling were determinants of satisfaction at both public and private hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Although patients at the private hospitals were more satisfied than those at the public hospitals with the health care they received, five of the predictors of patient satisfaction in this study were common to both settings. Thus, hospitals in both categories should work to improve the competencies of their employees, particularly health professionals, to win the interests of the clients and have a physical structure that better fits the expectations of the patients.