Journal Article

Assessment of patient satisfaction toward pharmaceutical benefit package provided by a health insurance corporation of Khartoum State version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations

Omar Alhaj, Manasik, Shoaib Hussain, Ahmed, Osman Mohamed, Ahmed

2022

Overview

Background: Patient satisfaction is an important measure of health service and a key indicator of the quality of health service. Studies focus on how to improve quality rather than patient satisfaction. This study was conducted to identify patients' satisfaction with the pharmaceutical service package of Health Insurance Corporation of Khartoum State in Jabal-Awliya locality, Khartoum, Sudan.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and August 2020. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Satisfaction was estimated using the Likert Scale. The association between patient's satisfaction and patient care indicators, namely: average dispensing time, percentage of medicine dispensed and labelled, and patient correct dose knowledge were assessed using Chi- square test, where a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.   Results: Out of 378 participants, the mean age was 47 with a comparable frequency of male and female participants (49.3% and 50.7% respectively). The mean satisfaction was 62.2% (3.11 ± 0.68). Most of the participants were satisfied with the way the pharmacist dealt with them (3.7, ± 0.778), while a low mean of satisfaction was reported regarding the availability of medicine within the pharmaceutical benefit package (2.06, ± 1.17). Average dispensing time was 5.78 minutes (p = 0.002), a low percentage of medicine actually dispensed and labelled was observed at 67% and 58% respectively (p = 0.00). A higher patient knowledge was reported 96.6% (p = 0.00), and the majority of the patients were able to pay 65% (p = 0.00).  Conclusion: The current study demonstrates a comparable satisfaction score. However, medication unavailability is the main factor that affects patient satisfaction.