Developing a Japanese hospital physician satisfaction scale

Purpose - Hospital physician shortages are widely recognized as a national problem in Japan. Although physician job satisfaction has a relationship with service quality and physician turnover, there is no measure to assess Japanese hospital physician satisfaction. This paper aims to establish a measure of job satisfaction for Japanese hospital physicians and evaluated its psychometric performance. Design/methodology/approach - Two cross-sectional physician surveys were used - a pilot survey, conducted as a self-administered questionnaire; and a validation survey conducted on-line. Findings - A total of 82 hospital physicians completed the pilot questionnaire. Factor and reliability analyses produced a 28-item,6-subscale and 2-global satisfaction scale measure, the Japan hospital physicians satisfaction scale (JHPSS). Results supported the measure's reliability and validity. For the validation survey, 146 hospital physicians completed the online questionnaire. One question item was substituted following factor analysis. Results also displayed the measure's adequate psychometric properties. Research limitations/implications - Participating physicians were convenience samples, which may not fully represent Japanese hospital physicians. Originality/value - The JHPSS, a brief questionnaire measuring Japanese hospital physician job satisfaction, should be useful for providing better quality care and improving our understanding of and ability to deal with Japanese hospital workforce issues.