MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION WITH PRIMARY-CARE IN DIFFERENT HEALTH SYSTEMS

It is becoming increasingly recognized that patient or 'consumer' view s should be taken into account as part of a comprehensive assessment o f quality of care. This paper reports a study carried out in four Euro pean countries about consumer satisfaction with primary care. The resu lts showed that higer levels of general satisfaction with general prac titioner services were found in Canterbury (95%) and loannina (87%) th an Belgrade (85%) and Moscow (62%). Further analysis of the data showe d that in all four cities the key dimensions of satisfaction with gene ral practitioner care are both the nature in quality of the doctor-pat ient relationship and the GP's professional skills. The implications o f these findings are discussed.