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.