Respecting the rights and patient expectations as a part of the quality of health services in the Podkarpacie primary health care units

Sylwia Wierzbińska-Karakuła
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Monika Binkowska-Bury
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Joanna Burzyńska
Paweł Januszewicz
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Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Katedra Pielęgniarstwa, Wydział Medyczny, Uniwersytet Rzeszowski, Rzeszów, Polska

Abstract

Introduction: Evaluation of patient’s satisfaction is a valuable and worthwhile method of assessing the quality of medical service. It has emerged as an increasingly important health outcome and is currently used to identify how health care meets the needs and expectations of patients, what is the possible source of their dissatisfaction and which aspects of a service need to be changed. Use of the conclusions of the study allows to customize the system of care to patients’ expectations and indicates the direction of quality activities.

Aim: The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the opinions of primary care patients on the implementation of care in the field such as patients’ rights.

Material and methods: The analysis included 1000 patients from Podkarpacie who reported a visit to primary care physician. The research used an author-designed questionnaire as the main method of data collection. For statistical analysis of results the chi-square test was used. 

Results: According to the data obtained, 63.4% of the patients are informed of their rights. On the basis of the results a dependence may be observed: the higher the educational status, the higher satisfaction from the quality of the received information, as well as the stronger the conviction of the ability to co-decide in terms of planned treatment. It has been shown that women as compared to men are more satisfied with the information received from the doctor and often admit that they can participate in medical decisions. In the opinion of the majority of patients, medical care is exercised in ensuring the dignity of the patient.

Conclusions: In general, patients positively evaluated category of respecting the rights of the patient’s primary care units located in the south-eastern Poland. Age, sex, place of residence, education and occupational status significantly affect the opinions of the patients with regard to respect their rights.

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