Consumer Satisfaction with Public Health Care in China

Problem statement: Consumer satisfaction is regarded as one of the ultimate goals that all health system should strive for (Hsiao, 2003), it reflects the effectiveness of the health system in consumers’ prospect. Yet public health care services in developing countries including Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) have failed to achieve adequate level of services. China, for example, satisfaction of public health care is considerably low. To improve public participation and effectiveness of the undergoing health reform initiatives in China, one must understand the underlying factors that contribute to consumer satisfaction for public health services. Approach: Therefore, this study explored the factors associated with consumers’ satisfaction with public health care delivery among residents in Kunming city, Yunnan Province of China. Results: Personal interviews with structured-questionnaires were used to collect the data via a convenience sampling of 569 Kunming adult residents who had consulted a doctor for outpatient services in the public health facilities within the past 12 months. The survey questions were designed to gauge the respondents’ health care use preferences, satisfaction levels, perceived quality and efficiency of public healthcare including their socio-economic characteristics. Consumers’ satisfaction in public health care delivery, factors such as interaction, qualification, financial affordability, environment, physical accessibility, adequate doctors, confidentiality, pricing, corruption and consumers’ socio-demographic characteristics were examined using the logistic regression. Conclusion/Recommendations: The results revealed that corruption have a negative impact on consumer satisfaction and perceived as a threat to consumer satisfaction. On the other hand, qualified doctors, affordable costs, adequate doctors and reasonable pricing of public health services were important factors to increase the probability of consumer satisfaction with public health care delivery and should be managed in priority.