Determinants of Patient Satisfaction with Health Care: A Literature Review

Abstract

This research paper aims to explore the field of patient satisfaction in health care, by performing a literature review on existing healthcare articles that analyse determinants of patient’s satisfaction and theories on patient satisfaction assessment. Patient satisfaction is one of the most important factors to determine the success of health care providers. Determining the exact definition, determinants and characteristics of patients that influence satisfaction, as well as different theories on satisfaction, are highly discussed elements in the literature for a long period of time. The research instrument was a literature review by combining different view from many researchers. The literature was searched in databases such as Emerald, Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus. Patient satisfaction appears to play an important role in evaluation of service quality. From the literature review, it was observed that the main determinants of patient satisfaction were the demographic characteristics, expectations and experiences of the patients. Communication is also an extremely important element that affects patient satisfaction. Other research should be conducted to delve even more into this very important area of health care.