Availability and utilization of health promotion programs and satisfaction with health plan

There has been increasing interest in using patient satisfaction as an indicator of quality of care by the purchasers of health plans, as well as the basis for marketing by competing plans. Few studies have examined if availability and utilization of health promotion programs are associated with patient satisfaction with the health plan. Data from the Bay Area Business Group on Health 1992 Employee Medical Plan Satisfaction Survey were used to examine these relationships. The findings indicate that persons enrolled in staff-model health maintenance organizations are much more likely to be offered health promotion programs by their plan or physician compared with persons enrolled in independent practice association-model health maintenance organizations and indemnity plans. However, regardless of plan type, employees who have been offered stop-smoking programs, stress management programs, weight-control programs, cholesterol screening and blood pressure screening, or any health promotion program by their plan or physician are more satisfied with their health plan than whose who have not. In addition, employees who have participated in a health promotion program also are more satisfied than employees who have not participated in such a program. The findings have important implications for designing and restructuring health plans to better meet consumer preferences.