A Study on Reliability and Validity of a Tool for Measuring Foreign Patient Satisfaction

Purpose: This study sought to improve the already developed tool for measuring foreign patient satisfaction to develop a highly reliable and valid tool.  

Methods: In the first stage, the said existing tool was improved to develop preliminary questions. In the second stage, the validity of preliminary items was examined targeting 15 working experts of international teams in 10 hospitals where the rate of foreign patients is relatively high. In the third stage, preliminary questions were translated into relevant foreign languages and back translated. In the fourth stage, by surveying foreign patients, the reliability and validity of the tool were verified. Specifically, from June 10 to July 7, 2013, 200 foreign patients (84 English copies, 70 Russian copies, and 46 Mongol copies) in 9 hospitals which operate an international team were surveyed. 

Results:

The tool for measuring foreign patient satisfaction, developed by Health Industry Development Institute, was improved to validate its reliability and validity. Thus, a tool for measuring foreign patient satisfaction, which is comprised of 7 items and 39 questions, was developed. The 7 items are doctor’s care (5 questions), information and education (6 questions), hospital environment and financial aspect (8 questions), hospital convenience (5 questions), services of nurse, coordinator, reception and payment system, communication and respect for patients (4 questions), and accessibility (4 questions). The total number of questions was determined as 39 including overall satisfaction, intention to reuse, and intention to recommend. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this tool was found high at .95, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient by item was .83 for doctor, .88 for information education, .89 for hospital environment and financial aspect, .85 for hospital convenience, .77 for services of employees, .86 for communication and respect for patients, and .65 for accessibility.  

Conclusion:

Putting together the above results, a highly reliable and valid tool for measuring foreign patients who visit medical institutions in South Korea was developed. The tool is considered useful to measure foreign patients’ experience to eventually improve the medical service for foreign patients.