National Health Insurance Scheme Services and Patient Satisfaction: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

Healthcare delivery in the present day involves not just treating the patient but also paying attention to the overall satisfaction the patient derives while obtaining the service. This has made satisfaction in healthcare services a top priority for both healthcare professionals and patients. However, the costs of healthcare services continue to be key sources of hardship for many households, hence the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) service in Nigeria to lessen the financial burden of accessing healthcare. The study investigated how patient satisfaction is impacted by NHIS service in a teaching hospital in Nigeria. The population consists of all enrollees of NHIS at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). Copies of the questionnaire used for the study were administered to NHIS enrollees seeking medical care in three departments of the hospital, namely: General out-patient, Maternity, and Dental. Out of the 200 questionnaires administered, 182 (General out-patient department – 79, Maternity department – 52, and Dental – 51) were found usable. To access the patients in the aforementioned departments of UBTH, convenience sampling, a form of non-probability sampling method, was applied. The method was chosen because it allows for simple access to and contact with target respondents. Multiple regression analysis was used to establish the statistical significance and relationship between patient satisfaction and NHIS services, such as accessibility, empathy, reliability, tangibility, responsiveness, and waiting time. The study found that accessibility, reliability, and waiting time have a significant impact on patient satisfaction with NHIS services. The study recommends that a more efficient and sustainable model should be designed and implemented in hospitals to minimise waiting time by engaging more health professionals and experts, as well as re-engineering the existing patient flow should be incorporated into the model. The study concludes that empirically investigating the quality of NHIS services and patient satisfaction in healthcare is important in several ways. First, it increases our understanding of service quality and patient satisfaction in particular, as well as service marketing in general, thereby laying the groundwork for future research. Secondly, the management of healthcare organisations will be able to spot any unsatisfactory service elements, which will serve as the basis for designing effective strategies to raise service quality in the healthcare industry.