Guided by Donabedian’s framework and WHO’s person-centred quality model, this study conceptualises patient satisfaction as a patient-reported outcome reflecting the interpersonal and organizational processes of care within public and private health service contexts in rural India. This paper aimed to measure satisfaction and its domains from health service use in rural Aligarh, and to compare satisfaction between private and public health service use in rural Aligarh. A cross-sectional study was conducted among rural households in the Jawan Block of Aligarh from January 2023 to December 2023 using the patient satisfaction questionnaire short form (PSQ-18). A sample of 565 participants from four villages was included in the study. The overall satisfaction from health service use in rural Aligarh was 66.70% (65.80% – 67.60%), higher for private at 71.24% (70.00% − 72.45%) than 63.10% (62.10% − 64.12%). for the public. Time spent with doctors, accessibility and convenience, and communication were rated higher in the private sector, whereas the public sector was better in financial aspects. The public-private differences in satisfaction are largely concentrated on specific process-level domains. Concrete actions, such as ensuring protected consultation time and communication skills training in public facilities, could make a massive difference. The study highlights that satisfaction is more about how care is organized and experienced at the point of contact. Private providers appear better aligned to patients’ expectations regarding process-related dimensions, while public providers offer greater protection against catastrophic health expenditure.
Ahmad et al. (2026) studied this question.