A team of University of California-Davis researchers found patients who are the most satisfied with their physicians are more likely to be hospitalized, accumulate more healthcare and drug expenditures and have higher death rates than patients who are less satisfied with their care.
For their study, the researchers evaluated data from more than 50,000 adult respondents of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of the U.S. population that assesses the use and costs of medical services. Respondents completed questionnaires about their health status and experiences with healthcare, including how often their healthcare providers listened carefully, were respectful and spent enough time with them. Participants also were asked to rate their healthcare on a scale of 0 to 10. The data were linked to the national death certificate registry.
The researchers found patients who were most satisfied had greater chances of being admitted to the hospital and had approximately 9 percent higher total healthcare costs as well as 9 percent higher prescription drug expenditures. Perhaps most notably, death rates also were higher: For every 100 people who died over an average period of nearly four years in the least satisfied group, about 126 people died in the most satisfied group.
The researchers could not define a cause-effect relationship from this study and hope to determine why satisfied patients tend to be hospitalized more frequently by evaluating the clinical situations that lead to hospitalization for the least and most satisfied patients. They also intend to study why prescription costs are higher in the most satisfied group.
For their study, the researchers evaluated data from more than 50,000 adult respondents of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of the U.S. population that assesses the use and costs of medical services. Respondents completed questionnaires about their health status and experiences with healthcare, including how often their healthcare providers listened carefully, were respectful and spent enough time with them. Participants also were asked to rate their healthcare on a scale of 0 to 10. The data were linked to the national death certificate registry.
The researchers found patients who were most satisfied had greater chances of being admitted to the hospital and had approximately 9 percent higher total healthcare costs as well as 9 percent higher prescription drug expenditures. Perhaps most notably, death rates also were higher: For every 100 people who died over an average period of nearly four years in the least satisfied group, about 126 people died in the most satisfied group.
The researchers could not define a cause-effect relationship from this study and hope to determine why satisfied patients tend to be hospitalized more frequently by evaluating the clinical situations that lead to hospitalization for the least and most satisfied patients. They also intend to study why prescription costs are higher in the most satisfied group.
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