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Improving patient satisfaction with time spent in an orthopedic outpatient clinic
J Levesque1, E R Bogoch, B Cooney
1University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave., Toronto, ON M5G 1X8.
Objective:
To determine if patient satisfaction can be improved by changing patients' expectations of the clinic visit and by decreasing the total time spent in the clinic.
Design:
A prospective comparative analysis carried out in 4 phases.
Setting:
An university-affiliated orthopedic outpatient clinic.
Patients:
All patients seen in the orthopedic outpatient clinic were eligible. Phase 1 determined the total clinic time required by patient type; phase 2 assessed baseline satisfaction; phase 3 altered patients' expectations; and phase 4 altered patients' expectations and scheduled visits by patient type.
Intervention:
Patient questionnaires.
Main Outcome Measure:
Patient satisfaction with time spent in the clinic.
Results:
Of 708 distributed questionnaires, 622 (88%) were completed (547 totally complete, 75 partially complete). Total time spent in the clinic decreased across phases 2, 3 and 4 (mean 99.2, 94.7 and 85.2 minutes, respectively, but was significantly different only between phases 3 and 4; p = 0.05, Duncan's multiple range test). The percentage of patients who rated their waiting time as "excellent" increased across phases 2, 3 and 4 (14.6%, 18.8% and 31.1%, respectively; p = 0.0004, chi 2 test).
Conclusion:
Patient satisfaction can be improved by altering patient expectations and by decreasing the total time spent in clinic.