Ambulatory health service users' experience of waiting time and expenditure and factors associated with the perception of low quality of care in Mexico

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A principal reason for low use of public health care services is the perception of inferior quality of care. Studying health service user (HSU) experiences with their care and their perception of health service quality is critical to understanding health service utilization. The aim of this study was to define reference points for some aspects of health care quality and to analyze which HSU experiences resulted in perceptions of overall low quality of care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the National Health Survey 2006 were used to compare the experiences of HSUs with their ambulatory care at Ministry of Health and affiliated institutions (MOH), social security institutions (SSI) and private institutions (PrivI). Reference points of quality of care related to waiting time and expenditure were defined for each of the three types of institutions by analyzing HSU experiences rated as 'acceptable'. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the principal factors associated with the general perception of low quality of care.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 11,959 HSUs were included in the analysis, of whom 37.6% (n = 4,500) HSUs received care at MOH facilities; 31.2% (n = 3,730) used SSI and 31.2% (n = 3,729) PrivI. An estimated travel and waiting time of 10 minutes respectively was rated as acceptable by HSUs from all institutions. The differences between the waiting time rated as acceptable and the actual waiting time were the largest for SSI (30 min) in comparison to MoH (20 min) and PrivI (5 min) users. The principal factors associated with an overall perception of low quality of care are type of institution (OR 4.36; 95% CI 2.95-6.44), waiting time (OR 3.20; 95% CI 2.35-4.35), improvement of health after consultation (OR 2.93; CI 2.29-3.76) and consultation length of less than 20 minutes (2.03; 95% CI 1.60-2.57).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The reference points derived by the HSUs' own ratings are useful in identifying where quality improvements are required. Prioritizing the reduction of waiting times and improving health status improvement after consultation would increase overall quality of care ratings.</p

Estudo etnográfico da satisfação do usuário do Programa de Saúde da Família (PSF) na Bahia Ethnography study about user satisfaction of Family Health Program in Bahia

O presente estudo consiste em uma avaliação qualitativa de satisfação de usuários em áreas cobertas pelo Programa de Saúde da Família/PSF, situadas em cinco municípios da Bahia. Foram consideradas nesta avaliação as seguintes dimensões: cognitiva, relacional, organizacional e profissional; vistas também sob o ponto de vista das equipes de saúde da família. Tendo em vista as críticas apontadas pela literatura quanto às limitações metodológicas em estudos que avaliam a satisfação de usuários, notadamente vieses ligados à desejabilidade social ou à redução do processo subjetivo de avaliação a respostas do tipo sim/não em questionários fechados, privilegiamos neste caso estratégias metodológicas de cunho etnográfico. A partir da técnica de grupos focais, os usuários expressaram sua percepção sobre o programa e os serviços oferecidos pelas equipes, ao tempo que revelavam suas necessidades e expectativas de satisfação das mesmas.<br>The present study consists of a qualitative evaluation of user satisfaction in the areas covered by the Family Health Program, which are located within five municipalities of Salvador (Bahia, Brazil). During the evaluation, the following dimensions were taken into account: cognitive, relational, organizational and professional; the family health teams' point of view was also considered. Owing to criticism directed in the literature towards the methodological limitations of studies undertaking to evaluate user satisfaction, in particular biases linked to social expectations or to the reduction of the subjective process of evaluation through yes/no-type answers to sets of closed questions, we favored in this case methodological strategies that bear the hallmark of ethnography. Through the focal groups technique, the users have been able to express their perception of the program and of the services offered by the teams while they were disclosing their needs and the satisfactions they expected from them