Comparison of patient's satisfaction levels in public and private tertiary care centres

The purpose of our study was to compare patient satisfaction level among tertiary public and private hospitals. We carried out a multi-centre cross-sectional study using Patient SatisfactionQuestionnaire-18 to assess patient satisfaction in a major private and public hospital in Islamabad. Out of 1301 participants, 636 (48.9%) patients were at the public hospital, while 665(51.1%) were at the private hospital. Time spent with doctor, communication, accessibility and convenience component score was significantly higher in patients at the private hospital (p<0.05 each). Interpersonal manner component score was higher at the public hospital (p<0.05). Female patients, patients admitted in medical specialty and patients admitted in private hospitals had higher patient satisfaction score (p<0.05 each). Significant efforts should be made to improve the quality of care provided to patients admitted in public-sector health facilities.