Patient satisfaction with an outpatient endoscopic service

The competitive health care market, increasing demand for patient involvement in establishing directions for health care and implementation of hospital accreditation have all driven hospitals toward evaluation of patient satisfaction with the service they receive from the health care venue. Although the concept of patient involvement in health care evaluation and quality assurance is not new, relatively little literature exists on patient satisfaction with outpatient endoscopic services. This study was designed to explore patient satisfaction with endoscopic services and factors influencing their perceptions. The sample (N = 151) included patients undergoing outpatient endoscopic examination over a 1-month period. The 14-item questionnaire included demographics and patients' perceptions of their experiences pre, interim, and postprocedure. Patients' age, referral source, procedure characteristics, perception of the quality of preprocedure information all influenced perceptions of the service provided by the endoscopic unit. Overall, service satisfaction was good. The results of this study have provided the multidisciplinary team with direction for planning improvements in care, and they may be relevant to other outpatient endoscopic services.