ASSESSMENT OF ACCESS TO HIGH-TECH MEDICAL CARE TO RESIDENTS OF SIBERIAN FEDERAL DISTRICT BASED ON RESULTS OF SOCIAL SURVEY
Social survey of patients of health care facilities in the Siberian Federal District that deliver high-tech medical care regarding access to such care allowed to identify problem areas related to its organization including problems associated with low patients’ awareness of such care, irrational distribution of quotes and long waiting lists for high-tech medical care of different types. The aim is to study public opinion about access to high-tech medical care and patients’ satisfaction with such care as well as to identify organizational problems related to high-tech care delivery from the consumers’ point of view (patients who received high-tech medical care in health care facilities of the Siberian Federal District). Methods and data. The social survey was aimed at studying consumers’ opinion and evaluation of high-tech medical care representing different social groups of urban and rural population from all regions of the Siberian Federal District. Study results. Average duration of the primary disease before receiving high-tech medical care essentially differs by high-tech care profile. It primarily depends upon queuing at the regional healthcare departments and waiting lists for high-tech medical care. Analysis of survey results showed that 58% of respondents were completely or partially satisfied by outcomes of high-tech medical care provided to them, and 7.5% - not satisfied. Upon delivery of high-tech medical care 47.7% of patients positively rated changes in their health, and only 1.1% - negatively. Conclusions. More than half of respondents who received high-tech medical care were satisfied with the treatment outcomes. This is significantly higher than indicators of patients’ satisfaction with medical care in general. Problems related to provision of access to high-tech medical care are mainly accounted for by existence of waiting lists at the regional health care departments; this was mentioned by more than half of respondents in seven out of 13 regions of the Siberian Federal District.