[Change in patient satisfaction in outpatient chemotherapy unit--comparison in 2005 and 2008]

We investigated the influences of the treatment environment, in terms of the increased number of treatments, introduction of regimen assessment and registration system, and the levels of specialization of the concerned medical professionals on patient satisfaction. We compared our results with those of a previous survey conducted in the outpatient chemotherapy unit of Hirosaki University Hospital. The patients were satisfied with respect to the privacy considerations and waiting time. However, a decrease in the patient instruction time led to slightly lower patient satisfaction. We concluded that it is useful to evaluate the quality of treatment in terms of patient satisfaction in a hospital.