Impact of Bulamu's Health Centre Excellence (HCE) interventions on patients' satisfaction with public healthcare delivery in Sheema district.

Background
Many non-governmental organizations are working in sub-Saharan Africa to improve healthcare
services in the region. However, in many cases, the impact of these organizations’ interventions
remains unknown. This study was, therefore, carried out to evaluate the impact of Bulamu
Healthcare, an organization working in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Sheema
district of Uganda. Bulamu Healthcare is a non-profit organization working to strength health
systems in Uganda through provision of management information system that provides timely
actionable data.
Methods
The study was a quasi-experimental quantitative design which utilized secondary data collected
by Bulamu Healthcare from 17 health facilities in Sheema district, Uganda, during the pre-and
post-HCE interventions patients’ satisfaction surveys which included 556 respondents. The
University of Global Health Equity’s Institution Review Board approved to carry out the study.
Results
The study found that patients’ satisfaction with health services in Sheema district significantly
increased in the post-HCE period in all areas assessed during the study periods. The median
(IQR) overall patient satisfaction increased from 39.57% (31.82% – 47.37%) in 2018 to 100%
(95.83% – 100%) in 2021 with p<0.001. The demographic characteristics of respondents were
not associated with patient satisfaction in both pre- and post-HCE periods.
Conclusion
The results of this study suggested that Bulamu Healthcare’s HCE program positively impacted
patients’ satisfaction with public healthcare services in Sheema district. However, another
comparative study between Bulamu-supported and non-supported facilities would be better to
validate if the increase in patient satisfaction is due to Bulamu interventions or the healthcare
delivery in Uganda improved.