Using Patient Satisfaction in Decision Making for Care Improvement in Ibn-Siena Specialized Tertiary Hospital in Kuwait

Background: The primary goal of any hospital is to provide quality health services and to respond to the clients needs. The degree of patient satisfaction can be used as a parameter to implement changes that can improve the quality of service.Objective: To identify the present level of patient satisfaction, causes of dissatisfaction if any and recommend steps to improve the quality of delivered services using a Pareto chart.Design: Cross-sectional descriptive study.Setting: Ibn-Siena Specialized Hospital, Ministry of Health, Kuwait.Subject and Methods: Three hundred and ninety-nine patients were included and they were interviewed by using a structured interview questionnaire. The results were analyzed and Pareto chart was used for each domain to prioritize the causes of patients dissatisfaction.Results: A majority of the patients (range: 73.4 to 98.2%) expressed satisfaction with the way in which the doctors greeted them, listened to their complaints and explained their medical conditions. However, they were unhappy that the doctors did not include them in the decision making process regarding treatment options. 73 to 87% patients were happy with the level and standard of patient care while 66.9% were not happy with the duration of hospital stay; they thought it was suboptimal.Conclusion: Although the overall level of satisfaction was high as regards the structure and communication, it was not sufficient in fully meeting patient s expectations. The patients have the right to choose from a range of treatment options according to their individual needs. The Pareto chart could be a valuable tool to identify opportunities for improvement.