Objective or subjective quality? Empirical investigation of the relationship between quality criteria or satisfaction with the recommendation of a clinic from the patient's perspective

Aim Verification of potential correlations between criteria of treatment quality, patient satisfaction and patient recommendation of acute clinics by means of statistical methods. Method QSR data (quality assurance with routine data) and results of the PEQ (Patients' Experience Questionnaire) from the AOK Hospital Navigator using the procedure "inserting an artificial knee joint" as an example from the data basis. The analysis and interpretation of the data collected online are carried out with the help of the SPSS statistics program using descriptive and inductive statistics. Results Low significant correlation between the criteria of treatment quality and overall patient satisfaction. Weak influence of treatment quality on the recommendation of the patients. Clinics with above-average quality achieve the highest recommendation rate. Clinics with below-average quality achieve significantly better results with regard to recommendation than clinics with average quality. Satisfaction with medical care as well as satisfaction with organisation and service have a significant influence on the recommendation from the patient's point of view. Conclusion Objective quality characteristics of the clinic have only a minor effect on the recommendation of a clinic by the patient. Subjectively perceived characteristics are relevant, such as satisfaction with medical care or satisfaction with organization and service. Provided quality reports must be designed in a patient-friendly way, e. g. by supplementing information relevant to the patient, such as patient reported outcomes ( PRO).