Importance of health care personnel commitment for patient satisfaction in Primary Care

Abstract

To know to what extent the organizational commitment of primary care health professionals is important for patient satisfaction. Observational, cross-sectional, quantitative, retrospective, and uncontrolled study. 40 primary care centers belonging to the health area of Gran Canaria. Primary care. 617 health professionals (46% doctors and 54% nurses) and 1,537 users of primary care centers (35.39% men and 64.60% women). Non-probability sampling for convenience. To evaluate organizational commitment, a self-administered questionnaire was used for health professionals in primary care centers. Patient satisfaction was obtained by telephone survey and control variables from secondary sources. The data were analyzed by multiple linear regression. To deepen the results, semi-structured interviews were also used. The socioeconomic environment of the health centers does not influence patient satisfaction. The organizational commitment of the workers has a positive influence on the satisfaction of the users of the health centers. It was also found that the most committed professionals have less availability in their schedules for short-term appointments. The interviews suggest that it is because they spend more time with their patients, which makes them more satisfied. The affective organizational commitment of health professionals is an attitude that allows improving patient satisfaction, therefore, health managers should use practices aimed at strengthening this attitude.