Health
care provider and policymakers are increasingly using patient
satisfaction measures to assess the performance of health care
organizations (Hibbard and Jewett 1996; Zaslavsky et al. 2000, Cited in
Cho, W.H. Lee, H. Kim, C. Lee, S. and Choi, K.S. 2004). International
accreditation agencies, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the National Committee on Quality
Assurance (NCQA), have included satisfaction as a quality indicator
(Fahad, F. A. 2005).
Patient
opinions are important because dissatisfaction suggests opportunities
for improvement. Patient satisfaction can lead to a higher rate of
patient retention which affects customer loyalty (Nelson et al. 1992,
Cited in Cho, W.H. Lee, H. Kim, C. Lee, S. and Choi, K.S. 2004).