Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.

OBJECTIVES To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital. DESIGN Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals. SETTING Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment. RESULTS Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories. CONCLUSION The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.