Patient satisfaction and its health provider-related determinants in primary health facilities in rural China

BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction is an important outcome measure of health service and is one of the main reasons for the gradual deterioration of doctor–patient relationships in China. This study used the standardized patient (SP) method to explore patient satisfaction and its health provider-related determinants among primary health facilities in rural China. METHODS: The dataset comprised 1138 clinic cases in 728 rural primary health facilities in 31 counties, spread across four provinces. Information regarding the consultation interaction between the unannounced SPs and primary physicians was recorded. Patient satisfaction was gathered from the feedback of SPs after the visit. RESULTS: The overall average score of SP satisfaction with rural primary health facilities was only 13.65 (SD = 3.22) out of 20. The SP scores were found to be consistent with those of real patients. After controlling variances in patient population via the SP method, the regression analysis demonstrated that health provider-related factors, such as physician-level characteristics, consultation process, affordability, and convenience, have a significant correlation with patient satisfaction among primary physicians. Among factors relating to physician-level characteristics, affordability, convenience and the consultation process of the visit, the quality of the consultation process (e.g., consultation time, proactively providing necessary instructions and other crucial information) were found to be the prominent determinants. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed the need to improve patient satisfaction in primary health facilities in rural China. To solve this issue, we recommend that policies to increase medical service quality be implemented in rural primary healthcare systems. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-08349-9.