The aim of this article was to determine which key indicators influence patient satisfaction with the Spanish NHS to provide useful information for policy decision-making. A total of 33 variables for each of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities were collected from the statistical portal of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services, and Equality between 2005 and 2016. A cross-sectional study was applied using Partial Least Squares to a Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). The influence of expenditures, resource allocation, and safety were hypothesized about patient satisfaction. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and life expectancy were used as control variables. Moreover, the influence of resource allocation on use was tested. The model explained 57.1% of patient satisfaction with the Spanish NHS. It was positively influenced mainly by resource allocation and expenditures, followed by safety and life expectancy. Additionally, resources directly influenced the level of use. The number of hospital beds, hemodialysis equipment, rate of adverse drug reactions, and expenditure positively influenced patient satisfaction. In contrast, the number of posts in day hospitals, the hospital infection rate, and the percentage of pharmacy spending negatively influenced patient satisfaction.

The aim of this empirical research was to provide useful information for health system managers on the costs and investments involved in improving the quality of the National Health Service (NHS) based on patient assessments and from a gender perspective, i.e., without assuming that the perceived experience is identical for men and women. A cross-sectional study of 31 variables was applied using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as a research tool. The data were obtained from the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumption, and Social Welfare for the entire Spanish territory between 2005 and 2018. The influence of expenditure, resource allocation, and mortality was hypothesized with regard to patient satisfaction according to disconfirmation theory. Patient satisfaction reflects clinical effectiveness, and therefore is a measure of health system quality. The results show that women are more sensitive to public investment in health than men, i.e., an increase in the level of spending and resources increases satisfaction more in women. In both sexes, the level of expenditure has a direct influence on patient satisfaction, and therefore on the quality of the healthcare system. It is important to increase spending on primary care, especially on specialized medical care and diagnostic equipment. However, reducing the use of drugs in favor of alternative treatments or therapies is considered to be positive. Likewise, spending has an impact on available resources, and these, in turn, have a positive influence on the level of use and a negative impact on mortality. Resources, especially healthcare staff, nuclear magnetic resonance equipment, and the number of posts in day hospitals, increase patients’ positive perception of the NHS.

This article aims to explore the perceptions of banana farms managers towards environmental sustainability practices through the impact of innovation, adoption of information systems, and training employees through a case study in the province of El Oro (Ecuador). Furthermore, the paper assesses how farmers’ perceptions could guide public policy incentives. PLS-Structural Equation Modeling are used as the framework by which the constructs is represented within the model. The model explained 59% of the environmental sustainability practices of Ecuadorian banana farms. The results indicate that environmental sustainability practices were positively influenced mainly by training employees, innovation, and adoption of information systems. Additionally, both the adoption of information systems and training employees indirectly influenced sustainable practices through innovation as a mediator. We may conclude that in the Ecuadorian banana farms, changes in environmental practices are derived from innovation strategies as an axis of development of useful information and training employees in public policies.

Healthcare decision-makers increasingly face a changing and ever-evolving landscape, forcing them to formulate public policies based on the results from different scientific investigations. This article evaluates the field of research on patient satisfaction as a basis for health policies. The analysis was carried out with a sample of 621 articles published between 2000 and 2020 in the Scopus database. The world’s largest producer and research co-operator on patient satisfaction and health policy was the United States. However, the most prolific authors, institutions, and journals are of British origin. Regarding the themes, we find that, in economic and management matters, scientific production is scarce. To study the evolution of keywords, we divided the study period into two periods of an equal number of years. In both sub-periods, the keyword “Human” stands out. In the second sub-period, the word “Perception” stands out, which indicates the current attention paid to the patient’s opinion.