Satisfaction with Health Services: Some Policy Implications

Although consumer satisfaction with health services is a frequently measured variable in health services research, the relevance of this variable for health policy is not always clear. The present paper suggests two criteria for specifying the relevance of satisfaction with health services for policy at the organizational level. First, it should be shown that consumer satisfaction is the result of organizational behaviors that are manipulable by policy. second, where he has a choice, it should be shown that satisfaction affects the organizationally relevant behavior of the consumer. Data are presented that support both criteria. Several suggestions are made for maximizing the policy relevance of future studies of satisfaction.