Patients (and their families) were approached for interviews immediately after they made their payments and had received their discharge cards. In order to be included in the exit surveys, respondents had to be: (i) older than 18 years of age; (ii) hospitalized for more than 24 hours; and (iii) resident in the corresponding area (either urban or rural) at the time of the interview (for example, residents of a rural village hospitalized in urban facilities were excluded from the study).