Patient Satisfaction Compared in 5 Rural and 5 Urban Hospitals in Illinois - Research Paper Example

Majority concentrates on delivery of primary health care services. As portrayed by recent research, most rural patients’ by-pass rural hospitals to seek medical attention from urban- based hospitals. Due to under utilization of rural hospitals, these hospitals continue facing financial challenges due to reduced occupancy rates and declining government assistance (Dent & Haslam, 2006). The issue of lower occupancy rates has substantially increased costs, hindering efforts to introduce new services and technology.

As such, the rural population continue to raise alarm of limited access to quality health care while at the same time they under- utilize rural hospitals leading to their closure The survey conducted in regard to satisfaction derived by patients generally rated the quality of rural care lower than that of urban care. In the figure below, the study was centered on two samples each consisting five hospitals selected from both rural and urban settings. The study found that, most patients were satisfied with services rendered by urban hospitals than those offered by their rural counter parts.

Many patients from the rural setting either expressed dissatisfaction or were not sure of the quality of local services. Graphs Fig 1.0 Patients response on level of service satisfaction at rural hospitals Source: UnitedHealth Group/Harris Interactive Survey of patient response to quality of services in rural hospitals, May 2011 Results From the research carried out, it was learnt that 15% were strongly satisfied, 33% satisfied, 9% were not sure, 28% dissatisfied while 15% were strongly dissatisfied.

Patient’s response on level of service satisfaction at urban hospitals Source: UnitedHealth Group/Harris Interactive Survey of patient response to quality of services in urban hospitals, May 2011 Results From the research undertaken, it was learnt that 37% of all the patients examined were strongly satisfied, 47% satisfied, 5% was not sure, 9% was dissatisfied while 2% expressed strong dissatisfaction. Discussion Patients perceive rural hospital care to be more personal as they can identify themselves with the caregivers.

There may be a chance of caregivers to interact with their patients after discharge. Therefore, they tend to be more attentive and courteous in their job (Chern & Wan, 2000). On the other hand, the anonymity of urban areas endangers the staff attitude of “who cares,” “I’ll never see the patient again.” Patients may have lower expectations of rural hospitals when they know that they lack necessary technology or experience high patient to staff ratio. As such, they may evaluate their preferred care against a lower set of expectations.

In rural setting, there could be lesser chances of error due to the simpler care processes and simple technology being in use. From the previous studies, it was established that patients discharged from teaching hospitals derived more satisfaction. More so, patients want to receive care from hospitals with cutting -edge care, physicians who are the best in their field or those using state of art technology. Perhaps, patients viewed Medicare derived from such modern urban hospitals to be worth the cost associated rather than being prodded and poked by trainees in institutions that train practitioners and conducts research.

Patient’s hospital choice between the rural and urban was found to depend on the ability of the patient to evaluate available options and their