Measuring Patient Satisfaction in a General Hospital

Knowledge of the experience of health service users is a strategic operational success factor, due to the ability of patients to capture a unique (individual) picture of the hospital's operation, information whose utilization contributes to the improvement of the organization. The purpose of the current study was to measure perceived quality through the experiences of the patients of Rhodes General Hospital. 420 questionnaires were collected with convenience/ random sampling (July 2022-February 2023). A weighted patient satisfaction questionnaire was used. A regularity and reliability check (Cronbach's alpha) were performed. To test the statistical hypotheses, the non-parametric Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis test, one-way ANOVA with post hoc analysis and regression analysis were performed. IBM SPSS v.25 statistical package was utilized. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. The sample consists of 285 women (68%) and 135 men (32%). The average age was 48.8 years (± 21.71). Almost half of the sample of patients had scheduled admission. Overall satisfaction is quite high (4.77± 0.34). Respondents express their satisfaction with the parameters of reception and accommodation (4.57±0.55), medical follow-up (4.85± 0.35), nursing care (4.91 ±0.28) and general service (4.77 ±0.46). Gender appears to be statistically significantly related to perceived satisfaction with the care environment, diligence of serving, and behavior of catering staff. Age and type of admission seem to be statistically significantly related to perceived patient satisfaction with physicians' behavior, quality of nursing care, and behavior toward attendants. Older patients are more satisfied with the instructions they receive on discharge. These findings illustrate that the measurement of patient satisfaction is a legitimate indicator for improving the services and strategic goals of healthcare organisations, which ensure the patient-centered nature of care. The improvement strategies of facilities/reception/environment, as well as upgrading the communication skills of medical, nursing, and other staff, will help to ensure the best possible quality rates at the investigated hospital.