Patient Satisfaction with Health Care

Recent Theoretical Developments and Implications for Evaluation Practice

Abstract

Using client or patient satisfaction instruments to assess the quality of services and programs is an integral component of much program research and evaluation. But however methodologically straightforward and programmatically useful, the constructs and theory underlying patient or client satisfaction measures are not particularly simple, and the informativeness and usefulness of these satisfaction measures have been repeatedly called into question. To help program evaluators more effectively incorporate service users’ perspectives into program evaluations, this article reviews major approaches to, and research on, satisfaction theory, including disconfirmation, fulfillment and consumer models, and sociological perspectives, and discusses emerging approaches and implications for evaluation practice.