This research is intended to identify influential factors on patient satisfaction with Cần Thơ City-based public hospitals. Through a survey of 425 patients and a quantitative model for evaluating the patient satisfaction, it pointed out three major influential factors, namely responsibility, assurance and especially responsiveness. Of these, responsiveness is the most influential factor. | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT No. 208, December 2011 INFLUENTIAL FACTORS ON PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN CAÀN THÔ CITY by MEcon. NGUYEÃN QUOÁC NGHI* This research is intended to identify influential factors on patient satisfaction with Caàn Thô City-based public hospitals. Through a survey of 425 patients and a quantitative model for evaluating the patient satisfaction, it pointed out three major influential factors, namely responsibility, assurance and especially responsiveness. Of these, responsiveness is the most influential factor. Keywords: patient, public hospital, satisfaction 1. Introduction Vietnam’s health care system has achieved tremendous achievements over the last decade. The Decrees 10/2002/NÑ-CP and 43/2006/NÑ-CP specifying financial autonomy for public health services were introduced in the hope of increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and improving profits and responsiveness to local residents’ medical demands. The implementation of these decrees has brought positive effects such as upgrading facilities and increasing competitiveness among health service suppliers. Nevertheless, as the demand for health care is far greater than the supply of health services, financial autonomy leads to uneven investment in facilities among hospitals at provincial and sub-provincial levels, entailing patient overloads in upper-level hospitals. In fact, Caàn Thô, the central city of the Mekong Delta, has up to 19 public hospitals, but patient overloads are frequent due to patient transfer from hospitals at sub-provincial levels. Based on aforementioned 56 RESEARCHES & DISCUSSIONS facts, this research aims at providing scientific basis for the health care system of the city in particular and the whole country in general in order to build plans and action programs for improving public health care services. 2. Research methods a. Theoretical basis: Concerning the satisfaction concept, Bachelet (1995) considers customer satisfaction as an emotional .
