A Study on the Mechanism by Which Hospital Service Responsiveness Affects Surgical Patient Satisfaction

This study examines how hospital service responsiveness shapes satisfaction among surgical inpatients by constructing an integrated model linking hospital service responsiveness, perceived value, patient trust, and patient satisfaction.It further introduces health literacy as a moderating variable to clarify how individual differences in the ability to obtain, understand, and use health information affect patients' evaluations of responsive services.Data were collected from February to May 2026 through a questionnaire survey of 318 inpatients who had undergone surgery in China.SPSS and AMOS were used to conduct descriptive statistical analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, Bootstrap mediation testing, and regression-based moderation analysis.The results indicate that hospital service responsiveness has a significant positive effect on patient satisfaction and also significantly enhances perceived value and patient trust.Both perceived value and patient trust positively influence patient satisfaction and significantly mediate the relationship between service responsiveness and patient satisfaction.The indirect effect through perceived value is greater than that through patient trust, suggesting that patients' evaluation of the benefits and costs of healthcare services plays a particularly important role in satisfaction formation.Health literacy positively moderates the effects of service responsiveness on perceived value and patient trust.Thus, patients with higher health literacy are more likely to translate responsive service experiences into favorable value evaluations and stronger trust.These findings show that surgical patient satisfaction develops through parallel cognitive and affective pathways.The study extends research on healthcare service responsiveness by integrating mediation and moderation mechanisms.It provides practical implications for strengthening timely communication, individualized support, and health-information assistance in surgical care.