Impacts of a government social franchise model on perceptions of service quality and client satisfaction at commune health stations in Vietnam

This study evaluates behavioural outcomes associated with a new approach - the government social franchise (GSF) model - developed to improve reproductive health and family planning (RHFP) service quality and capacity in Vietnam's commune health stations. A quasi-experimental design with a matched control group assessed GSF model effects on client perceptions of serviced quality and satisfaction. Survey data from 1181 users and potential users were collected at baseline, six months and 12 months after implementation of the franchise network. Regression analyses controlled for baseline differences between intervention and control groups. Commune health station franchise membership was significantly associated with improvement of community perceptions of service quality and client satisfaction as well as their likeliness to return and recommend low-cost, community-based RHFP services to others. This study provides preliminary evidence regarding the ability of the GSF model to increase client satisfaction with RHFP services in primary public healthcare clinics.