Preventive Medicine & Public Health

Biography

Sultan Alharthi has completed his MBBS from King Saud University. He is family medicine resident at the Suadi Board of Family Medicine in Taif, Saudi Arabia.     
 

Abstract

Background: A responsive and comprehensive primary healthcare (PHC) system leads to a more efficient health system, lower rates of hospitalization, fewer health inequalities, better health outcomes, and lower costs. Despite its routine use in the work course of most hospitals worldwide, accreditation has only recently has been introduced into the PHC setting in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: To assess the impact of accreditation on quality of care as perceived by patients and PHC staff members as well as to compare the quality of healthcare services provided by accredited and non-accredited primary healthcare centers.

Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two primary health care (PHC) centers that pass accreditation on CBAHI and two non-accredited PHC centers, in Makkah region, Saudi Arabia. The study population consists of patients attending PHC centers and staff working in the selected PHC centers. Two pre-designed self-administered questionnaires were used for both patients and healthcare providers

Results: The study included 770 patients recruited from 4 primary healthcare centers (two in Makkah and two in Taif cities) and 47 primary healthcare staff members working in the same centers. Patients attended accredited PHC center were more significantly satisfied with its services compared to those attended non-accredited center. Regarding screening services, lipid panel, fasting plasma glucose, and HBA1c screening were more significantly performed in accredited PHC centers than non-accredited centers. Regarding the surveyed scales of the impact of accreditation of primary healthcare centers, from staff`s perspectives, the mean scores computed for the scales and subscales were all high.