Family and Parental Decision Making When Choosing a Paediatric General Practice Service: What Factors Mattered Most?

Introduction: In today's highly demanding health care industry, paediatricians realise the need to focus on what matters to parents as a means to improve their service quality and health care delivery. This study aimed to identify which key choice elements were important for parents when choosing a paediatric general practice service for their children. It also examined the difference of how parental socioeconomic status influenced these key choice elements. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at two urban paediatric general practice centres in Malaysia, where parents are at liberty to choose their children's health care provider. Parents who brought their child to seek treatment at the clinics were invited to participate following an informed consent. A self-administered questionnaire was devised from the literature and a focus group discussion. A 5-point Likert scale was applied to 25 elements that were organised into 5 major domains: "consultations", "facilities and services", "fees and charges", "social media engagement", and "doctor's appearance". Results: Out of 424 questionnaires administered, 387 were completed (91.3% response rate). Families value the provision of "facilities and services" as well as the interaction with health care professionals during "consultation". Effective communication via social media engagement was highly desired even beyond office visits. In exchange, parents appeared to tolerate some inconvenience and costlier consultations but still appreciate transparent charges. While certain ratings of key elements varied across income level, parents with higher educational level had more desire for shared decision making. Conclusion: The extent to which key elements were important for parents when choosing a paediatric general practice service appeared to be influenced by their educational and income level. Linking the right drivers to best practices is a key component of effective management strategy in the health care practice.