Bahir Dar University Researchers Detail Findings in Health Insurance (Perceived quality of care among households ever enrolled in a community-based health insurance scheme in two districts of northeast Ethiopia: a community-based, …): Health Insurance

2022 NOV 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Data detailed on health insurance have been presented. According to news originating from Bahir Dar University by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “To examine how clients perceived the quality of healthcare they received and identify associated factors both at the individual and facility levels. A community-based, cross-sectional study.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Bahir Dar University: “Two rural districts of northeast Ethiopia, Tehulederie and Kallu. Participants 1081 rural households who had ever been enrolled in community-based health insurance and visited a health centre at least once in the previous 12 months. Furthermore, 194 healthcare providers participated in the study to provide cluster-level data. Outcome measures The outcome variable of interest was the perceived quality of care, which was measured using a 17-item scale. Respondents were asked to rate the degree to which they agreed on 5-point response items relating to their experiences with healthcare in the outpatient departments of nearby health centres. A multilevel linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of perceived quality of care. The mean perceived quality of care was 70.28 (SD=8.39). Five dimensions of perceived quality of care were extracted from the factor analysis, with the patient-provider communication dimension having the highest mean score (M=77.84, SD=10.12), and information provision having the lowest (M=64.67, SD=13.87). Wealth status, current insurance status, perceived health status, presence of chronic illness and time to a recent health centre visit were individual-level variables that showed a significant association with the outcome variable. At the cluster level, the work experience of healthcare providers, patient volume and an interaction term between patient volume and staff job satisfaction also showed a significant association.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Much work remains to improve the quality of care, especially on information provision and access to care quality dimensions. A range of individual-level and cluster-level characteristics influence the perceived quality of care. For a better quality of care, it is vital to optimise the patient-provider ratio and enhance staff job satisfaction.”

For more information on this research see: Perceived quality of care among households ever enrolled in a community-based health insurance scheme in two districts of northeast Ethiopia: a community-based, cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 2022,12(10). (BMJ Open - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/). The publisher for BMJ Open is BMJ Publishing Group.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063098.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Mohammed Hussien, Health Systems Management and Health Economics, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Additional authors for this research include Muluken Azage, Negalign Berhanu Bayou.

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