| Description |
Two questionnaires are designed and implemented to fulfill the study objectives: an 'Institution Questionnaire' and a 'Patient Questionnaire'. Each of the two instruments is intended to address different target groups of stakeholders, and together fulfill the spectrum of specific objectives attached to the study. The two questionnaires are described below.
The 'Institution Questionnaire' is designed to acquire information, directly from health care providers, about their activities and performance. The questionnaire is composed of five sections: Section One collects information about the health care provider her/himself: profession and specialty, activity in terms of number of working hours and places of practice, perspective vis-à-vis administrative and technical obstacles hindering the provision of better quality care, and views with regard to potential avenues for quality improvement. Section Two collects information about the health care institution itself: type and nature of provided care, offered services and existing equipments, and available human resources. Section Three questions about institution's activity in terms of: number of working hours per day and number of working days per year, type and size of provided services, and average unit charge per service. Information from this section is intended to provide an indirect estimation of institution's expenditures/revenues, and hence, the provider's share from total national health expenditures. Section Four covers the spectrum of institutions' expenditures in nominal (monetary) terms; e.g., wages and salaries; running costs including: water, electricity, and mailing services; costs of internal and external missions; and cleaning and maintenance services. It also covers the spectrum of institutions' revenues in nominal (monetary) terms; e.g., registration fees; charges from medications; and charges from hospital stay and emergency services. Section Five is intended to estimate capital outlays. It covers all institution's capital properties and investments, including: lands, buildings and equipments.
The 'Patient Questionnaire' is divided into four sections. Section One collects information about the responding patient's socioeconomic and demographic characteristics; e.g., age, sex, education, marital status, and household income. Section Two asks about insurance coverage and insurance utilization, patient's degree of satisfaction with the current functioning of own health insurance, and whether of not she/he would prefer an alternative insurance system, and her/his willingness to pay to benefit from an optimal insurance coverage. Section Three collects information about the individual's health problem and her/his behavior in demanding health care, the spectrum of received care, and charges paid to acquire needed services. The section also asks about whether any other third-party had assisted in covering the health care costs. Finally Section Four assesses the availability and quality of needed services (from the patient's perspective), and asks about patients' satisfaction with provided care. This section also includes a group of questions for in-patients to assess their experience with in-patient services and the hospital admission process. |
