Abstract
Introduction
Patient satisfaction is used to measure the success of the service being provided by the health facility with the good or acceptable quality of health care and to ensure that health care services meet patient needs. Patient satisfaction could significantly affect clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice claims. Previous studies showed that improved patient satisfaction was associated with increased levels of adherence to treatment processes and recommended prevention, improved clinical outcomes, better patient safety and less health care utilization. This study aims to assess the level of patient satisfaction in the private health facility in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional design that was conducted in a private health facility, MalisBotr Polyclinic and Maternity in Phnom Penh. We used convenience sampling to select 271 patients who visited outpatient (OPD) services in the daytime from Monday to Sunday between August and September 2022. We interviewed the recruited patients using an electronic questionnaire in Khmer stored in the KoboToolbox application. Descriptive statistics were performed using STATA V16.
Results: The mean age of patients who visited the polyclinic was approximately 42 years, mostly between the ages of 30-45 years old, and three-quarters resided in Phnom Penh. Female patients accounted for 63.0% of the selected samples, and 67.8% of them completed university education. More than half of the patients (53.1%) were self-employed, and 8.5% were garment factory workers. More than two-thirds of them visited OPD services for the first time. Overall, the satisfaction score was very high for all domains; close to 100% of patients were satisfied with all satisfaction domains, including experiences with healthcare services, physician services, nurse services, pharmacy services, registration services, access to services, working schedule, service procedure, convenience, courtesy, and quality of care.
Conclusion
Overall, patients were highly satisfied with all domains of the polyclinic services. However, further research could be conducted qualitatively to explore challenges and patients’ perceptions of clinical healthcare services in private health facilities.