Outpatient Experience of Human Caring Scale (OEHC-Scale): Improvement by Delphi Method

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Experience Research
• Nursing and Human Caring Studies

Background:

• The outpatient experience is crucial for patient satisfaction and healthcare quality.
• Existing scales for measuring human caring in outpatient settings require refinement.
• Understanding patient perceptions of care is essential for service improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve the outpatient experience of human caring scale through expert consensus.
• To establish a robust and validated scale for assessing human caring in outpatient services.
• To identify key dimensions of the outpatient experience relevant to human caring.

Main Methods:

• Development of an initial scale framework based on literature review and interviews.
• Application of a two-round Delphi method involving 16 experts in medical management, human caring, and medical education.
• Statistical analysis of expert feedback, including reliability (Cr), concordance (Kendall's W), and response concentration (mean, full mark ratios, CV).

Main Results:

• The Delphi process resulted in an improved scale with 10 dimensions and 61 items.
• High expert agreement was achieved on the dimensions reflecting the Chinese outpatient process.
• The refined dimensions include pre-hospital service, guidance, registration, waiting, diagnosis/treatment, payment, lab tests, medication, therapy/injection/infusion, and overall evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Chinese scholars demonstrate significant interest in human caring and outpatient experiences.
• The Delphi method facilitated expert consensus on the dimensions of outpatient human caring.
• Further validation through outpatient surveys is recommended to assess construct validity and reliability.