Waiting time in outpatient care: a study of divergent perspectives

This article documents a survey of waiting time in the outpatient setting. The study was conducted in March 1988 at Gorgas Army Community Hospital, located in the old Panama Canal Zone in the Republic of Panama. Two groups were surveyed. Patients were group one (M = 450) and physicians were group two (N = 55). Of four factors questioned as being the biggest problem in outpatient clinics, group one had a response rate of 83.3% for waiting time, compared with group two's 9.1%. Chi-square analysis was used to test the independence of the two groups at the 1% level of significance. The study reveals that there is a significant difference between patients' and physicians' views of waiting time. This finding provides an enlightening perspective in an effort to understand and to initiate methods to improve waiting time in outpatient medicine.