Improving medical emergency services system by evaluating patient satisfaction: means for health management

Document Type : Articles

Authors

1 Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 Department of Disaster Public Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Medical School, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Health Human Resource Research Center, School of Management & Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: One of the important aspects in high quality health care system is delivering health services in an appropriate way which can lead to development of the systems. Patient satisfaction is a quality indicator that has the potential to provide valuable information about the care delivered by an Emergency Medical Services system (EMS). This indicator is considered as an important marker of quality by paramedics.Method: This is a descriptive- analytical study on 1096 patient satisfaction of emergency services suffering from cardiovascular, dyspnea, low level of consciousness and cerebral problems. Variables such as the type of diseases, technicians’ and operators’ behavior, time of response and outcome of the missions were measured with a valid checklist. ANOVA and correlation Pearson were employed as analytical tests.Results: Considering different types of diseases, 4 categories of diseases had positive correlation with satisfaction of the patients and also there was a meaningful correlation between factors which were measured and satisfied patients.( P<0.001 )Conclusion: Developing some instructions for technicians and operators focusing on interpersonal skills and enhanced sensitivities and behaviors not only toward patients but also toward bystanders and family members is recommended to improve patient satisfaction and thought quality of delivered care in the prehospital emergency medical systems.Keywords: Health management, Patient’s satisfaction, Emergency, Disaster management