International Journal for Quality in Health Care 14:155-160 (2002)
© 2002 International Society for Quality in Health Care
Hospital quality information for patients in Taiwan: can they understand it?
1Institute of Health Policy & Management and Center for Health Policy Research, National Taiwan University, College of Public Health, Taipei
2Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Kao-Hsiung
3Institute of Health Care Organization Management, National Taiwan University, College of Public Health, Taipei, Taiwan
Address reprint requests to Shou-Hsia Cheng, Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy and Management, NTU, Room 1515, No. 1, Section 1, Jen-Ai Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. E-mail: shcheng{at}ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
Objectives.To investigate Taiwanese patients’ ability to judge hospital quality and to examine their knowledge of commonly used quality indicators.
Design.Survey of patients during their stay in hospital.
Setting.Internal medicine, surgery, and gynecology wards in seven hospitals in northern Taiwan.
Participants.Sample of 661 patients who voluntarily completed a questionnaire.
Main outcome measures.(1) Patients’ ability to judge hospital quality in relation to medical equipment, technical competence, and medication; (2) patients’ knowledge of seven quality indicators: patient satisfaction, hospital-acquired infection, accreditation level, percent specialists, malpractice claims, unscheduled readmission, and mortality rate 48 hours after surgery.
Results.A total of 31–50% of the participants claimed that they could judge a hospital’s quality on the basis of medical equipment, technical competence, or medication. The most frequently mentioned reasons on which their judgments were based were related to their own experiences and to the hospital’s reputation. The percentage of participants reporting that they understood the quality indicators was 6.7–42.1%.
Conclusion.In general, patients lack the ability to judge hospital quality and are unfamiliar with the commonly used quality indicators. Public education should be enhanced, or new more understandable indicators should be developed in the future.
Keywords: hospital, patient judgment, quality indicators, quality information, Taiwan
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  Y.-C. Tung and G.-M. Chang Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a primary care provider: associations of perceived quality and patient education Int. J. Qual. Health Care, June 1, 2009; 21(3): 206 - 213. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S-H Cheng and H-Y Song Physician performance information and consumer choice: a survey of subjects with the freedom to choose between doctors Qual. Saf. Health Care, April 1, 2004; 13(2): 98 - 101. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|