Comparison of Patient Satisfaction Level and its Various Determinants in Public and Private Hospitals in Peshawar

The satisfaction of the patients and its importance in modern medicine cannot be emphasized enough. It is a potential tool that can invariably give a look-in into the performance of a hospital itself and health professionals (either directly or indirectly). The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient satisfaction levels and determinants of patient satisfaction in public and private tertiary care health setting of Peshawar, Pakistan, where the concept of patient satisfaction and patient-oriented medical care has been more of a recent development compared with other parts of the world, and where it has not been able to establish itself as a critical factor among healthcare providers. A total of 200 patients (100 from private and 100 from public sector hospital) were given a standardized patient satisfaction questionnaire 18 through the convenience sampling technique. The result showed that most patients in the private sector were more satisfied with various aspects of medical care compared with patients in the public sector. Overall, 96% of patients in private hospitals were confident that the medical care they had been receiving was perfect compared with 86% of patients in the public sector. Moreover, 49% of patients in public hospitals and 84% in the private sector disagreed when questioned if they were dissatisfied with the medical care they had received. In conclusion, patients in the private sector were more satisfied with the healthcare services provided to them in most categories than patients in the public sector. However, patients in private hospitals were less confident in terms of accessibility and affordability than those of the public sector.