Assessment of Patient-Provider Relationship on Patient’s Satisfaction at the Achimota Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Over the years, there has been a significant improvement in diagnosis and treatment of patients due to the advancement and the use of medical sciences and technology in health care delivery. Nonetheless, the relationship between patients and their providers has gradually declined around the world. This has invariably affected the level of quality of care and the overall patient’s satisfaction. Objective: To assess the influence of patient-provider relationship on patient’s satisfaction at Achimota Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used. Exit interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire. Data collection covered: socio-demography, care from doctors and nurses, and patient experiences with OPD services. The study population was adult patients who accessed the hospital’s services at the time of data collection. Chi square test and logistic regression analysis were used to assess association between patient-provider relationships and satisfaction. The level of significance was accepted as p<0.05 Results: The overall patient satisfaction was about 83.4%. However, 16.6% of the respondents were dissatisfied with patient-provider relationship at Achimota Hospital. A total of 154 male and 229 female respondents participated in this study. Majority of the respondents, 129 (33.9%) were within the age range of 21– 30 years. Most of the respondents had had tertiary education, 136 (35.6%). Those employed were 250 (67.2%) with average monthly income of between GHS 500 and GHS 1000. From the results, care from nurses (Excellent, odd ratio=40.4079, 95%CL=3.2721-49.8990, P value =0.004) and OPD services (Adequate, odd ratio=21.1912, 95%CL=0.0548-0.6166, P value =0.006) were statistically significant. Conclusion: Patient-provider relationship on patients’ satisfaction at Achimita hospital OPD was high as about 83.4% of the total respondents was satisfied with the relationship with the providers. Patients and health providers had a very healthy relationship and this can affect healthcare quality positively. To continually improve patient-provider relationship towards influencing patients’ satisfaction, measures must be put in place to have more resources at the OPD to enable providers have ample time to provide care to patients. Keywords: Healthcare Quality, Patient Satisfaction, Patient-Provider Relationship, Ghana