Patients In the Medical Services Market, Research on The Availability and Satisfaction with Medical Services

Analysis of current studies on satisfaction with healthcare services reveals the main factors influencing the perceived satisfaction of patients. The quality of interactions with healthcare personnel, access to healthcare services, healthcare patterns and cultural factors are key to ensuring a positive patient experience. In addition, analysis of differences between patient groups can help develop more personalized approaches to healthcare. It is worth mentioning that the observed trends in satisfaction with healthcare services indicate a positive development in the quality of healthcare, but continuous research and improvements are necessary to ensure further growth in this area. Reviewing data from previous studies allows us to assess what factors influence their experience. This helps both healthcare personnel and managers of healthcare facilities to make better decisions, improve the healthcare system and adapt services to the needs of patients.

Analysis of current studies on satisfaction with healthcare services reveals the main factors influencing the perceived satisfaction of patients. The quality of interactions with healthcare personnel, access to healthcare services, healthcare patterns and cultural factors are key to ensuring a positive patient experience. In addition, analysis of differences between patient groups can help develop more personalized approaches to healthcare [5]. It is worth mentioning that the observed trends in satisfaction with healthcare services indicate a positive development in the quality of healthcare, but continuous research and improvements are necessary to ensure further growth in this area. Reviewing data from previous studies allows us to assess what factors influence their experience. This helps both healthcare personnel and managers of healthcare facilities to make better decisions, improve the healthcare system and adapt services to the needs of patients [6].

The target statistical group was considered to be the patients of one of the medical entities in Poland - the non-public health care facility Palawa. Belonging to this group is a feature that unites this group, while other features such as age, gender, level of education distinguish such a group from each other. The study is subject to the phenomenon of feeling satisfaction with medical services. By definition, this is a partial study. The sample includes people who voluntarily undertook the effort to complete the survey. It seems, therefore, that the data obtained reveal problems and truly show the image of this phenomenon. The author hopes that the results obtained in this study are representative of the group of patients of this facility and their generalization will enable planning solutions and anticipating the development of the situation in the future. The aim of the study was to assess the availability and satisfaction with medical services of patients in a city located in the Mazovian Voivodeship, Growling County in Poland. According to the Central Statistical Office, the number of inhabitants is 4,557 people. The health center provides care to 5,000 patients from the city and surrounding towns. In the work, the author identified the following problems, which she formulated as research problems.
It was assumed that gender, age, education affect the overall assessment of satisfaction with medical services, similarly gender, age and education affect the assessment of the quality of work of nursing staff, their state of knowledge and competence. It was assumed that depending on gender, age and education, the assessment of showing care and kindness towards patients varies. It was assumed that depending on the gender, age and education of patients, the ability of nurses to communicate with the patient and the ability to provide emotional support are assessed. It was also assumed that patients assess emotional support and meeting psychological needs by nurses depending on gender, age and education. It was assumed that patients assess nurses’ skills in educating patients about self-care activities depending on gender, age and education. The study was conducted over a period of six months.

The vast majority of respondents (87%) agreed that the reception staff were polite and dealt with their issues quickly. 9% of respondents had the opposite opinion. Detailed data are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Registration staff courtesy rating

Source: own study

The doctor's courtesy and commitment during the visit was confirmed by 96% of respondents. Detailed data are presented in Table 2.
Table 2: Doctor's courtesy rating

Source: own study

The overall satisfaction rating is the sum of the answers to all survey questions. The higher the number of points, the higher the patient satisfaction. The maximum number of points that the respondents could award was 70 points. The average rating was 60.1 points (SD=10.31). The lowest rating recorded among the respondents was 15 points (N=1), and the highest was 65 points (N=64). It is worth noting that these ratings were made by 64% of the respondents, which means very high satisfaction with the services provided in the facility under study. Women and men do not differ in their ratings of satisfaction with the services of the primary healthcare facility (U=1153; p>0.05). Detailed data are presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Level of satisfaction with the availability and medical services depending on the gender of the respondents.

The respondents also did not differ in their assessment of satisfaction with medical services taking into account their age (H=3.0; p>0.05). The education of the respondents also does not significantly differentiate them in terms of the ratings they gave for medical services (H=0.224; p>0.05). The analysis of the assessment of individual aspects of the work of the medical facility by gender did not reveal any significant differences between women and men in any of the aspects discussed in the study. Detailed data are presented in Table 4.

Table 4: Comparison of average ratings for individual aspects of medical staff work by gender.

M – mean, U – Mann-Whitney test result, p – statistical significance; Source: own study

A similar observation concerns age, where regardless of the age group, the respondents assessed their satisfaction with the discussed aspects of the work of medical personnel at a similar level. Detailed data are presented in Tab 5.

Table 5: Comparison of average ratings for individual aspects of medical staff work depending on age

M – mean, U – Mann-Whitney test result, p – statistical significance Source: own study

The main function of primary health care is to provide medical services at the local level. The more qualitatively adequate help patients receive in relation to their expectations, the more they accept medical activities, health education, and sometimes the burdensome diagnostic process, which promotes healing processes and individualization of services. An important factor influencing the assessment was the perception of staff involvement and the time spent on the visit. A primary health care nurse is just as important as the doctor, as confirmed by research. She is often the first point of contact in a clinic or during a home visit. In surveys, there is a tendency to highly evaluate the work of nurses due to their good attitude to patients, subjective treatment, and respect for their dignity. This is also shown by our own research. The tendency to link good communication or the so-called availability of a nurse with satisfaction with medical services is revealed in research around the world and has a colossal significance for progress in treatment. The results of the study of patients' opinions from primary healthcare in Pilawa show that knowledge from the field of social psychology is useful or even necessary, which allows for a wise and conscious individualization of the approach to the patient depending on gender, age, education, aimed at optimizing the effects of treatment. This comes down to the issue of understanding the message - hence some differences between the groups. 
Comparing the results of our own research to the analyses available in the literature, 87% of people taking part in the survey were satisfied with the kindness of the reception staff. These results compare favorably with the analysis by Plentar et al. from 2015, in which only slightly more than half of the participants in the study assessed the receptionists as friendly people, 27

1. The research hypotheses were not confirmed in our own research, formulated on the basis of previous research, assumptions or ideas, and showed that the specificity of a healthcare entity significantly changes the image of the functioning of the facility in relation to others, which limits the possibility of generalizing the study results only to clinics of this type.
2. Gender, age, education of the respondent’s facility did not significantly affect the assessment of the quality of the nursing staff's work, their knowledge and competence. Similarly, in the case of the assessment of showing care and kindness towards patients, they did not differentiate the assessments of the respondents. Also, in the matter of the nurses' ability to communicate with the patient, readiness to provide emotional support and education
3. The age of respondents does not affect the level of satisfaction with medical services.
4. The education of the respondents did not significantly differentiate opinions on satisfaction with the availability of medical services.