[User satisfaction in 2hospitals with different management models]

Public, private, and mixed care management models coexist in the Spanish National Health System, in addition to those private models with state-funded financial support since the General Health Law was enacted. In order to function well, health systems must include quality management systems, and they must use patient satisfaction evaluations as an outcome indicator.

The objective of this article was to compare the level of satisfaction of users with conventional hospitalisation in 2hospitals in Elche (Spain) with different management models.

An observational, descriptive-analytical, and cross-sectional study was carried out in hospital units with the same type of patients in 2health centres with a different management model: Vinalopó Hospital (government franchise) and IMED in Elche (a private institution with service arrangement). Users discharged during June 2017 were included. User satisfaction was measured with a model used to evaluate the perceived quality of hospital care (SERVQHOS questionnaire).

A total of 80% of Vinalopo users, and 75% of IMED users evaluated their care as better than expected. Almost all (97.1%) of users in Vinalopo, and 94.3% in IMED were satisfied or very satisfied with care received, and 97.1% of users in Vinalopo and 92.5% in IMED would not hesitate to recommend them. Global satisfaction and SERVQHOS questionnaire showed a narrow relationship with significance at a global level (R2=0.386; P=.055). However, the results of evaluations at each hospital were not significant (IMED: R2=0.639; P=.092; Vinalopó: R2=0.63; P=.282).

High satisfaction levels were found, with little differences between the 2hospitals, and higher rates in some areas compared to other studies. As quality indicators, there are factors such as time, flexibility in systems and in information, probably due to changes in needs and user expectations. There are only a few studies that compare satisfaction between different management models.