Acceso usuarios
, L. A. Lopez Fernandez
Objective. To find and analyse the views of both health centre users and users of private insurance companies on the quality of services offered.
Design. Descriptive, crossover study using qualitative methodology. The views of health centre and private insurance company users on the quality of services delivered were gathered through 8 focus groups. The variables of opinion analysed were defined according to the SERVQUAL model of Parasuraman on perceived quality.
Setting. Three health districts in a health area in Andalusia.
Participants. 70 users took part.
Results. Accessibility (prior appointment, information and reception service, hours open), capacity for response (speed and efficiency of processing) and internal organisational coordination were considered by health centre users weak-points of the primary care services, which affected negatively their credibility. These variables were identified by private insurance users as the main advantages of the care model for which they had opted. Reliability was valued positively by health centre users, but received a higher valuation from private insurance users. However, the courtesy and friendliness of health centre professionals was seen as an outstanding point of the service, and no different from that of private professionals. The use of clinical records, the competence of the professionals and the tangible aspects of health centres were identified by their users as strong points of the primary care services and give the public care model an advantage over the private one.
