This study aims to develop understanding of Chinese patient satisfaction with tertiary hospitals. The study draws on data collected from the 2015 China National Patient Survey. A Likert five-point scale was used to formulate the questionnaires. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression analysis were conducted. A structured questionnaire was used by 1432 interviewers to interview 27 475 outpatients and 19 938 inpatients in 136 tertiary hospitals from 31 provinces. Outpatients in the dispensing area and inpatients in the discharging area were randomly interviewed. Key domains of the questionnaire include the layout of service functions, environment maintenance, process management, quality of care, humane care and the patient–doctor relationship. Within each domain, several indicators were set, and each indicator was given a statement. The overall satisfaction scores are 4.42 ± 0.68 and 4.67 ± 0.62 for outpatient and inpatient, respectively. The domains with highest satisfaction are ‘diagnosis and treatment’ for outpatient and ‘nursing care’ for inpatient. Outpatients were least satisfied with long waiting time, while inpatients were least satisfied with the food. The strongest predictor of overall satisfaction appears to be ‘patient–doctor relationship’ for both outpatients (OR = 3.53, 95% CI: 3.17–3.92) and inpatients (OR = 7.34, 95% CI: 5.55–9.70). Chinese hospitals need to pay more attention to offering more humane care to patients, hospital environment and process management improvement, reducing waiting times for seeing doctors and outpatient testing, and improving amenity services such as better food in the wards.

Medical staff in China’s tertiary public hospitals are responsible for providing healthcare to a considerable number of patients, and their job satisfaction needs attention. The aim of this study is to investigate the job satisfaction of medical staff in tertiary public hospitals and to explore its associated factors. Based on a national survey conducted in 2016, this study included 43,645 physicians and nurses nested in 136 tertiary public hospitals in 31 provinces of China. Multi-level logistic regression was used to examine job satisfaction and its association with individual characteristics and job-related factors. Results showed that 48.22% respondents were satisfied with their job, and they were least satisfied with their compensation. Individual characteristics including occupation, gender, education background, alcohol drinking and self-reported health status, as well as job-related factors regarding professional title, work years, income, workload, doctor-patient relationship and practice setting were found to be significantly associated with job satisfaction. Given that some of these factors may be amenable to interventions, we suggest that government and hospital administrators could take some measures to promote continuing education, improve personal health, balance workload and compensation for medical staff, in order to improve the job satisfaction of medical staff in tertiary public hospitals.

Objectives: China launched the National Healthcare Improvement Initiative (NHII) in 2015 to improve patient experiences in healthcare. This study aimed to generate evidence of hospital care quality from the patients’ perspective. Design: This nationwide cross-sectional study interviewed participants from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China. Setting: A total of 117 tertiary hospitals in mainland China. Participants: 48 422 responses from outpatients and 35 957 responses from inpatients were included in this study. Primary outcome measure: The scores of six predefined domains in the Chinese Patient Experience Questionnaire, five of which were designed to reflect specific dimensions of care, and one of which indicated the overall rating. Results: More than 80% of the respondents viewed their care experiences as positive. The NHII seems to have had a positive impact, as indicated by the steady, although unremarkable, increase in the patient experience scores over the 2016–2018 period. The Chinese patients generally reported a positive experience with the clinical aspects of care, but reported a less positive experience with the environmental, interpersonal and social services aspects of care. The institutional factors, including region and type of hospital, and personal factors, such as gender, age, education and occupation, were factors affecting the patient experience in China. Humanistic care was the aspect of care with the greatest association with the overall patient experience rating in both the outpatient and inpatient settings. Conclusions: The national survey indicated an overall positive patient perspective of care in China. Older age, higher education level and formal employment status were found to be correlated with positive care experiences, as were higher levels of economic development of the region, a more generous insurance benefits package and a higher degree of coordinated care. The interpersonal-related initiatives had substantial roles in the improvement of the patient experience. In the regions where farmers and users of traditional Chinese medicine services constitute a greater proportion of the population, improvement of patient experiences for these groups deserves special policy attention.

Background: Patient satisfaction has been seen as a key criterion when evaluating hospitals and is one of the main focuses of the current health‐care reform in China. This paper aimed to explore patient‐ and hospital‐level factors associated with inpatient satisfaction, which can provide policy implications for the evaluation and development of a patient‐oriented health‐care system.Methods: The paper analyses data from the 2017 China National Patient Survey which includes 20 300 inpatients from 131 tertiary hospitals across 31 provinces. Descriptive analysis and multivariable logistic regressions are conducted to identify key factors related to satisfaction.Results: Patient sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, age, income and insurance type, are found to be strongly associated with their satisfaction of inpatient experience. In terms of institutional characteristics, hospital type, size, staffing and financial performance are also significantly correlated with inpatient satisfaction. Patients are more satisfied with specialist hospitals and large hospitals measured by the number of beds and surgeries. Hospitals with higher nurse‐to‐bed ratio also receive more satisfaction. The financial performance of hospitals, however, is negatively associated with satisfaction.Conclusion: Patient satisfaction contains unique information on service quality and thus should be incorporated into the matrix of hospital evaluation. Meanwhile, differences in patient composition must be adjusted to make fair comparisons across hospitals. Moreover, future reform needs to put greater efforts in the design of comprehensive public insurance scheme, efficient hospital structure and an overall well‐functioning health‐care delivery system in order to better serve patients in China.

Public hospitals are integral components of China’s health care system, and improving quality of care and patient satisfaction has become of greater concern for these hospitals. The aim of this study was to assess outpatient satisfaction with tertiary hospitals and to explore the roles played by patient perceptions of specific aspects of care in overall satisfaction. We designed a questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction and perceived quality of care using a 5-point Likert scale. The survey was conducted in 136 hospitals across 31 provinces of China, and a total of 28 822 patients were interviewed. For statistical analysis, we conducted descriptive analysis, nonparameter tests, Spearman’s rank correlation, and multivariate logistic regression. Stepwise logistic regression identified 12 variables of patient perception associated with overall satisfaction. Patients’ perception of physicians’ technical skills had the strongest association with satisfaction, followed by inquiries into medical history/current situation and availability of elevators. Other determinants included a feeling of respect, timely guidance when needed, and explanation of treatments and medications. Waiting times and hospital environment factors, such as cleanliness of bathrooms and drinking water supply, were also associated with patient satisfaction in a slightly less powerful way. This study revealed that Chinese outpatient satisfaction with tertiary hospitals was relatively high. As determinants of satisfaction, patients valued professional medical care and respect from the medical staff more than nonmedical aspects of care. This implied that Chinese hospitals should ensure quality of medical care and sufficient communication with patients, as well as pay more attention to humanism in health care. In the meantime, improvements should be made to nonmedical aspects of care, especially waiting times and physical environment. These findings are also useful for the rest of the low- and middle-income world in improving patient satisfaction.