A Social Network Approach to the Estimation of Perceived Quality of Health Care

Overview

Journal Open Nurs J

Publisher Bentham Open

Specialty Nursing

Date 2017 Dec 15

PMID 29238425

Citations 1

Authors

Giulia Carletti

Nicola Soriani

Martina Mattiazzi

Dario Gregori

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Measuring service quality aids health care providers to recognize specific and unmet needs of patients. Nevertheless, perceived quality of health care services (PQC) is often investigated with inadequate techniques which may lead to biased results.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to develop a proof-of-concept for estimating the PQC using the scale-up estimator, with reference to a concrete assessment in patients of a major Oncology Hospital in Veneto (IOV). Results have then been compared with those collected by the Customer Relations Office (CRO) after the annual survey conducted with traditional questionnaire based techniques.

Material And Methods: Seven hundred and eighty-three sets consisting of two questionnaires were handed out to IOV patients between 26 and 28 November 2012. The first questionnaire was the CRO annual one composed by 15 direct questions about the perception of quality satisfaction rate using a Likert scale. The second questionnaire was the scale-up (NSUM) one, composed by 20 indirect questions, 5 of which were reproducing the main target of CRO for estimating PQC.

Results: The comparisons made over 299 sets of questionnaires showed differences between the two techniques. Network Scale-Up Method (NSUM) questionnaire seems to be able to produce lower estimates of PQC with respect to the CRO annual questionnaire. In some cases, the NSUM showed dissatisfaction rates which are 20-fold higher respect to CRO.

Conclusion: NSUM could be a promising method for assessing the perceived quality of care.

Citing Articles

Using Social Networks to Estimate the Number of COVID-19 Cases: The Incident (Hidden COVID-19 Cases Network Estimation) Study Protocol.

Ocagli H, Azzolina D, Lorenzoni G, Gallipoli S, Martinato M, Acar A Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(11).

PMID: 34073448 PMC: 8198250. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115713.

References

Sitzia J . How valid and reliable are patient satisfaction data? An analysis of 195 studies. Int J Qual Health Care. 1999; 11(4):319-28. DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/11.4.319. View

Saunders C, Carter D, Jordan A, Duffield C, Bichel-Findlay J . Cancer patient experience measures: An evidence review. J Psychosoc Oncol. 2016; 34(3):200-22. DOI: 10.1080/07347332.2016.1157717. View

Riiskjaer E, Ammentorp J, Nielsen J, Kofoed P . Patient surveys--a key to organizational change?. Patient Educ Couns. 2009; 78(3):394-401. DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2009.08.017. View

Bredart A, Razavi D, Robertson C, Didier F, Scaffidi E, Fonzo D . Assessment of quality of care in an oncology institute using information on patients' satisfaction. Oncology. 2001; 61(2):120-8. DOI: 10.1159/000055362. View

Wensing M, Elwyn G . Methods for incorporating patients' views in health care. BMJ. 2003; 326(7394):877-9. PMC: 1125777. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.326.7394.877. View

Davidson R, Mills M . Cancer patients' satisfaction with communication, information and quality of care in a UK region. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2005; 14(1):83-90. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2354.2005.00530.x. View

Stiavetti E, Matteucci R, Giannessi E, Ducci J, Baldoni L, De Simone P . Patient satisfaction among liver transplant recipients: single-center survey. Transplant Proc. 2010; 42(6):2233-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2010.05.135. View

Yellen E . The influence of nurse-sensitive variables on patient satisfaction. AORN J. 2003; 78(5):783-93. DOI: 10.1016/s0001-2092(06)60638-8. View

Bredart A, Robertson C, Razavi D, Batel-Copel L, Larsson G, Lichosik D . Patients' satisfaction ratings and their desire for care improvement across oncology settings from France, Italy, Poland and Sweden. Psychooncology. 2003; 12(1):68-77. DOI: 10.1002/pon.620. View

10.

Bjertnaes O, Sjetne I, Iversen H . Overall patient satisfaction with hospitals: effects of patient-reported experiences and fulfilment of expectations. BMJ Qual Saf. 2011; 21(1):39-46. DOI: 10.1136/bmjqs-2011-000137. View

11.

Felix H, Seaberg B, Bursac Z, Thostenson J, Stewart M . Why do patients keep coming back? Results of a readmitted patient survey. Soc Work Health Care. 2015; 54(1):1-15. PMC: 4731880. DOI: 10.1080/00981389.2014.966881. View

12.

Moher D, Schulz K, Altman D . The CONSORT statement: revised recommendations for improving the quality of reports of parallel group randomized trials. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2001; 1:2. PMC: 32201. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2288-1-2. View

13.

Uitterhoeve R, Bensing J, Dilven E, Donders R, deMulder P, van Achterberg T . Nurse-patient communication in cancer care: does responding to patient's cues predict patient satisfaction with communication. Psychooncology. 2009; 18(10):1060-8. DOI: 10.1002/pon.1434. View

14.

Bredart A, Razavi D, Robertson C, Didier F, Scaffidi E, de Haes J . A comprehensive assessment of satisfaction with care: preliminary psychometric analysis in an oncology institute in Italy. Ann Oncol. 1999; 10(7):839-46. DOI: 10.1023/a:1008393226195. View

15.

Lis C, Rodeghier M, Gupta D . The relationship between perceived service quality and patient willingness to recommend at a national oncology hospital network. BMC Health Serv Res. 2011; 11:46. PMC: 3051883. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-11-46. View

16.

Pedersen R . Empirical research on empathy in medicine-A critical review. Patient Educ Couns. 2009; 76(3):307-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2009.06.012. View

17.

Loblaw D, Bezjak A, Bunston T . Development and testing of a visit-specific patient satisfaction questionnaire: the Princess Margaret Hospital Satisfaction With Doctor Questionnaire. J Clin Oncol. 1999; 17(6):1931-8. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.1999.17.6.1931. View

18.

Boscarino J . Patients' perception of quality hospital care and hospital occupancy: are there biases associated with assessing quality care based on patients' perceptions?. Int J Qual Health Care. 1996; 8(5):467-77. DOI: 10.1093/intqhc/8.5.467. View

19.

Schoenfelder T, Klewer J, Kugler J . Factors associated with patient satisfaction in surgery: the role of patients' perceptions of received care, visit characteristics, and demographic variables. J Surg Res. 2010; 164(1):e53-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2010.08.001. View

20.

Tong A, Winkelmayer W, Craig J . Qualitative research in CKD: an overview of methods and applications. Am J Kidney Dis. 2014; 64(3):338-46. DOI: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2014.02.026. View