Patient-Physician Communicative Patterns, Physicians’ Job Satisfaction, and Patients’ Satisfaction: The Case of a Hospital in Isfahan

Abstract Background and purpose:Now-a-days, patient satisfaction is increasingly receiving the attention of health-service providers, which is a necessary step to enhance the quality of health services. The present study aimed at exploring patient-physician communicative patterns, physicians&rsquo; job satisfaction, and patients&rsquo; satisfaction at Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods:This study was a descriptive analytical and cross-sectional survey in the summer of 2010. Simple random sampling was used to select participants. Data were collected through using three self-designed questionnaires on physicians&rsquo; job satisfaction, patient-physician relationship patterns (based on Hollander and Szase&rsquo; ideas), and patients&rsquo; satisfaction. Validity of the questionnaire was checked by a panel of experts. Furthermore, internal consistency reliability of the questionnaires was confirmed by Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha (&alpha; = 0.80). Different dimensions of the job satisfaction questionnaire were salary, supervision, setting, promotion, fringe benefits, and working conditions. Data were analyzed by using SPSS for Windows 13.0 software. Results:The mean score of patient-physician relationship was 63. Therefore, the most frequent patient-physician communication pattern was guidance-cooperation. The mean score of physician&rsquo; job satisfaction was 50.2. The mean score of patients&rsquo; satisfaction was 86.5. Physicians&rsquo; job satisfaction was found to be related to patient-physician communication pattern (P < 0.05). Conclusion:Although patient-physician communication patterns are important, different variable such as patients&rsquo; and physicians&rsquo; satisfaction influence the patterns. Furthermore, improvement communication process between health care providers can be useful in the increasing patient satisfaction and patient quality of care.