Patient Satisfaction and the Image of the Pharmaceutical Industry in an International Comparison Factor Analysis of Medical and Drug Satisfaction and the Image of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Yasuhiro Tsukahara (Professor, School of Information and Communication, Meiji University)
Hiromiko Fujisawa (Information Systems Office, Meiji University)
Takashi Iwai (Senior Researcher, Pharmaceutical Industry Policy Institute)
Mikio Sasabayashi (Senior Researcher, Pharmaceutical and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
Hiroyuki Fukuhara (Former Senior Researcher, Pharmaceutical and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
(No.34: Published November 2006)
In order to clarify what kind of medical care and pharmaceutical industry patients seek through an international comparison of patient satisfaction with medical care and pharmaceuticals and their image of the pharmaceutical industry, we surveyed and analyzed medical consumers in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
The results showed that satisfaction with doctors' treatment techniques was high in all five countries, and satisfaction with respect for patients' wishes and dialogue with doctors were major factors in satisfaction with healthcare in general. In addition, satisfaction with pharmaceuticals had a strong influence on satisfaction with healthcare in general. A factor that was unique to Japan in influencing satisfaction with pharmaceuticals was satisfaction with the safety of pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, reliability and ethics were shown to be the factors common to each country that had the strongest influence on industry image. In all five countries, the pharmaceutical industry was perceived as "highly promising and innovative but profit-oriented," but these images were not as strong in Japan as in the other four countries.
In this study, relative satisfaction with life in general was used in order to make the data from each country with different national personality tendencies and social satisfaction levels comparable, but verification of the validity of this is a future issue. In addition, when making international comparisons, it is necessary to consider the results while taking into account differences in healthcare systems, advertising regulations, etc.