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Patients' expectations and their satisfaction with pharmacy services.
Suzan Kucukarslan1, Jon C Schommer
1Center for Drug Use Analysis and Information, Department of Pharmacy Services, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. skucuka1@hfhs.org
Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association (Washington, D.C. : 1996)
|May 28, 2002
Summary
Patient satisfaction with pharmacy services depends on what is being evaluated. Cognitive services are best assessed using ideal referents, while tangible services are best assessed using prior experiences.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Patient Experience
- Pharmacy Practice
Background:
- Patient satisfaction is a critical metric in healthcare delivery.
- Understanding patient expectations is key to improving pharmacy services.
- Previous studies have explored various factors influencing patient satisfaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if prior experiences, ideal referents, or market-based expectations influence patient satisfaction with pharmacy services.
- To differentiate the impact of various expectation types on patient satisfaction.
- To inform the design of more effective patient satisfaction surveys.
Main Methods:
- Ambulatory pharmacy patients were surveyed using one of three expectation measures: prior experiences, ideal referents, or market-based expectations.
- Regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between expectation types and patient satisfaction.
- Patient satisfaction served as the dependent variable in all regression models.
Main Results:
- A total of 315 usable surveys were returned, yielding a 47% response rate.
- All three regression models demonstrated statistical significance.
- The specific independent variables that were significant differed across the three models.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive pharmacy services should be evaluated by comparing patient perceptions to an 'ideal referent'.
- Tangible pharmacy services are best assessed by comparing current experiences to past experiences.
- Pharmacy satisfaction surveys must be tailored to the specific type of service being evaluated to yield meaningful insights.