The Responsiveness of the Private Health Sector:

 Views of Insured versus Uninsured Patients

Sami M. Alhabib, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Health Administration, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

(Received 18/3/2018, accepted for publication 7/10/2018)

Abstract

The Saudi health system is going through a transitional phase, which requires careful consideration of the available alternative strategies. System responsiveness is one of the means to assess the performance of the healthcare system as a whole or on the level of subfields. The purpose of the current study was to measure the responsiveness of the private sector in the Saudi health system through seven dimensions; prompt attention, dignity, communication, autonomy, confidentiality, choice, and quality of amenities. The objectives were to measure, within the health insurance status context, private health sector’s users’ experience and their perceived importance of seven responsiveness dimensions. The study instrument was designed based on the 2002 World Health Survey; Health System Responsiveness. 601 patients participated of whom 76% were insured and mostly working in the private sector. Both experience and perceived importance of the seven responsiveness dimensions of private healthcare sector’s users were of a moderate level with no significant difference between insured and uninsured individuals. The study concluded that careful training of health professionals on the non-therapeutic aspects of healthcare was needed within the private sector to prepare professionals to handle the responsibilities of delivering and financing healthcare. A survey at the population level is required to validate the current findings; including a thorough implementation analysis on health insurance.

Keywords: health system responsiveness; Saudi health system; cooperative health insurance; patient experience; private health sector