Diabetes mellitus is a costly chronic disease related to medication, physician
consultation and laboratory investigation. The main means of financing healthcare
include direct out-of-pocket (OOP) payment and government subsidisation in
some countries, or public/private health insurance schemes, or a mix of all. Patient
satisfaction is critical in ensuring the use of healthcare services, continuity of care
and treatment adherence. In this study, we determined the satisfaction of type 2
diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients regarding the healthcare services and payment
methods at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Teaching Hospital, Malaysia.
This cross-sectional study involved 313 T2DM patients aged ≥18 years who were
included after clinical consultations. We used convenience sampling at the
outpatient and inpatient medical centres of Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz and
UKM Specialist Centre. A survey consisting of sociodemographic, socioeconomic
and payment method types as well as a validated patient satisfaction questionnaire
scale were used. The mean age was 59.6 years (SD=13.151), 53.0% of the patients
were female, 78.3% were Malay, 76.4% were uninsured, 39.6% were covered
by government subsidies, while 36.7% paid OOP. Around 86% were generally
satisfied with the overall services. Patients were most satisfied with technical
quality (84%), communication skills (83%) and accessibility (80%), but satisfaction
was lower in doctors’ service orientation, particularly the interpersonal manner
(73%), financial aspect (73%) and time spent with the doctor (70%). Over 86% of
patients were satisfied with healthcare services and payment methods; however,
patients who paid OOP reported low satisfaction. Full insurance and extending
benefits to partially cover both inpatients and outpatients with low co-payment is
recommended to increase satisfaction
