ABSTRACT

In the evaluation of health services, objective criteria such as the adequacy of the sources used and the number of people utilizing these services are considered primarily; whereas the attitudes patients face while they receive these services, and issues like patient rights and patient satisfaction become secondary. Considering the importance of patient rights and patient satisfaction in our day, it is necessary for institutions giving health service to recognize the psycho-social nature of the health service, and to develop appropriate solutions addressing the needs that will rise in accordance with the patient rights and patient satisfaction.

The questionnaire used in this study was filled out by 1206 individuals. Findings obtained from this study reveal that the 72.6 % of the participants are generally satisfied with the military health service institutions that provide health care to them. However, from the perspective of patient rights, the following findings stand out as issues to be deliberated and improved upon: 10.8% of the participants said that they had never been treated with due respect, 36.2 % were not satisfied at all with the communication their institutions had with them, 22.0 % had never participated in the decisions about their treatment, 26.4 % had never been asked for their consent prior to interventions for diagnosis and treatment, 6.2 % secrets had never been kept confidential, and %13.4 said that their privacy had not been respected in general.