Facebook Reviews as a Supplemental Tool for Hospital Patient Satisfaction and Its Relationship with Hospital Accreditation in Malaysia

Afiq Izzudin A. Rahim, Mohd Ismail Ibrahim, Kamarul Imran Musa and Sook-Ling Chua
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Afiq Izzudin A. Rahim: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Mohd Ismail Ibrahim: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Kamarul Imran Musa: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Sook-Ling Chua: Faculty of Computing and Informatics, Persiaran Multimedia, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya 63100, Selangor, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-16

Abstract: Patient satisfaction is one indicator used to assess the impact of accreditation on patient care. However, traditional patient satisfaction surveys have a few disadvantages, and some researchers have suggested that social media be used in their place. Social media usage is gaining popularity in healthcare organizations, but there is still a paucity of data to support it. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between online reviews and hospital patient satisfaction and the relationship between online reviews and hospital accreditation. We used a cross-sectional design with data acquired from the official Facebook pages of 48 Malaysian public hospitals, 25 of which are accredited. We collected all patient comments from Facebook reviews of those hospitals between 2018 and 2019. Spearman’s correlation and logistic regression were used to evaluate the data. There was a significant and moderate correlation between hospital patient satisfaction and online reviews. Patient satisfaction was closely connected to urban location, tertiary hospital, and previous Facebook ratings. However, hospital accreditation was not found to be significantly associated with online reports of patient satisfaction. This groundbreaking study demonstrates how Facebook reviews can assist hospital administrators in monitoring their institutions’ quality of care in real time.

Keywords: social media; Facebook; patient satisfaction; quality of care; online review; accreditation; hospital management; clinical quality; Spearman correlation; Malaysia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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