An evaluation of patients' opinions of primary care physicians: The use of EUROPEP in Gaza Strip-Palestine

Tayser Abu Mourad, Suzanne Shashaa, Adelais Markaki, Athanasios Alegakis, Christos Lionis, Anastas Philalithis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to identify the level of patients' satisfaction with primary care physicians. Data were gathered from an exit interview using a standardized questionnaire (EUROPEP) and background variables. A total of 956 patients in fifteen primary health care clinics in Gaza Strip participated. Outcome measures is positive patient satisfaction (good and excellent ratings in the EUROPEP Index). As a results, the mean percentage of positive satisfaction with medical services was poor (41.8%). The poorest performance was recorded for: getting through to the clinic on the phone, being able to speak to physician on the telephone, time spent in waiting rooms and helping the patient deal with emotional problems. The comparison between clinical behaviour dimension and organization of care showed that clinical behaviour was evaluated higher. In conclusion, Palestinian patients expressed overall dissatisfaction with services provided by primary care physicians. These findings present a real challenge for Palestinian authority policy makers and administrators in terms of designing appropriate quality improvement strategies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)497-503
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Medical Systems
Volume31
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2007

Keywords

  • EUROPEP
  • Physician
  • Primary health care
  • Satisfaction

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