Last update:
10-Jun-2005

ΟBJECTIVE Quality management systems play an increasing role in the health systems of developed countries. Hospital units are attempting to deal with the implementation of the notion of quality in their services. The main aim of this research project was to present the results of analysis of the implementation of "quality" in hospital services and specifically the use of indicators, which describe the hospital quality in satisfaction numbers.

METHOD The study was conducted in two hospitals. The method used was a stratified sampling of patients. The tool used was a questionnaire. One hospital was a non-profit specialized hospital (378 questionnaires) and the other was a newly built general public hospital (108 questionnaires for internal and 412 questionnaires for external patients).

RESULTS The degree of satisfaction was relatively high in both hospitals. The general opinion of the non-profit and the general hospital was 91.1% and 75.2%, respectively. The evaluation of the medical staff was 92.7% and 71.3% and of the nurses 92.7% and 84.4%, respectively in the two hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS From the data analysis, it is concluded that the degree of satisfaction in both hospitals is high especially in the non-profit hospital where the quality management system has been used for a long time. Both hospitals seem to show a relation between the use of quality management systems and patient satisfaction. The general conclusion is that the more familiar the staff is becoming with these systems, the higher is the satisfaction expressed by the patients.

Key words: Health, Hospitals, Quality, Quality indices, Satisfaction, Systems.