The impact of organizational culture on patient satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: Managing organizational culture has been increasingly viewed as a lever for health care improvement. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the type of organizational culture and patient satisfaction in the selected health care centers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in two municipal primary health care (PHC) centers in the FBIH, referred as Primary health care (PHC) center A and Primary health care (PHC) center B. A validated questionnaire, known as the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), was used for the assessment of organizational culture. The questionnaire was distributed among the family health care teams at the two PHCs. Simultaneously, we carried out a survey about patient satisfaction among patients during their visits to the family health care teams.

Results: We observed the differences in the type of the organizational culture between the health care centers. The hierarchical culture was found the dominant culture in PHC center A, whereas the market culture was the dominant culture in PHC center B. Also, the statistical significance (t test) was recorded in the overall patient satisfaction in the health care center with the dominated hierarchical culture followed by the clan culture (PHC center A).

Conclusions: Considering the lack of similar surveys in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we believe that this study might be a good starting point for education of human resource managers in health care.