Health care satisfaction among foreign residents in Taiwan-An assessment and improvement

BACKGROUND: In 2012, almost half-million foreigners (2.3% of the total population) from 160 countries were estimated to live in Taiwan. In 2010, approximately eighty-seven percent of the population expressed high satisfaction in the national health care system of Taiwan. However, satisfaction level among foreign residents towards the Taiwanese health care system has not been clearly documented in the literature. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we assessed satisfaction level among foreign residents for receiving healthcare facility in Taiwanese hospital. In addition, the study came out with some potential solutions to improve health care received by them. METHODS: Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach was deployed, which included three phases: observation, pattern recognition, and ideation and delivery. Each phase involved various steps. Techniques, such as ethnography, interview, discussion, and survey were used in accomplishing various steps within each phase. Four participants and two facilitators from Taiwan took part in the study. RESULTS: The study revealed various stories, insights, and themes about the health care received by the foreigners in Taiwan. In addition, some potential solutions and immediate available opportunities were recommended to improve their health care. CONCLUSIONS: The results provided a deeper understanding into the satisfaction level among foreign residents in Taiwan. For instance, this study pointed out the need to improve English proficiency of hospital's administrative staffs because a lack of English language proficiencies was found to be a major barrier in delivering quality health care to foreign residents. Therefore, adoption of various training modalities, such as English training using mobile device based games, role-play, and hospital's workflow depiction using English posters were recommended.