Predictors of patient satisfaction in an outpatient plastic surgery clinic

Although outcome measurement in medical care has traditionally included various aspects of clinical and functional status, patient satisfaction is another important metric in the assessment of health care quality. Determining which factors contribute most to patient satisfaction can assist health care providers in improving care. In an era of diminishing resources, satisfaction ratings can further aid third-party payers in determining who provides those services. The authors used the ordinal logistic regression method to develop a predictive model for patient satisfaction in an outpatient plastic surgery clinic. Consecutive patients who attended a university outpatient plastic surgery clinic were asked to complete the Visit Specific Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (VSQ) after their clinic visit. Type of clinic (e.g., hand clinic, aesthetic clinic, breast clinic) and demographic variables like age, gender, race, and education were added to the questionnaire to control for possible confounding effects. The authors constructed an ordinal logistic regression model using the overall visit response as the dependent variable and the eight other response categories as independent variables. A total of 345 patients completed the VSQ, which takes each patient less than 2 minutes to complete. The patient response rate was more than 95%. Statistically significant predictors included (1) personal manner of physician (odds ratio [OR], 18.0; p = 0.0002), (2) time spent with physician (OR, 4.7; p = 0.0099), (3) length of time to get an appointment (OR, 4.6; p = 0.0055), and (4) explanation of what was done (OR, 3.9; p = 0.0263). There was no statistically significant association between overall satisfaction scores and the following factors: (1) length of wait in the clinic (OR, 2.7; p = 0.0747), (2) getting through to the clinic by phone (OR, 0.71; p = 0.5439), (3) convenience of the clinic's location (OR, 2.3; p = 0.1368), and (4) technical skills of the physician (OR, 1.0; p = 0.9974). The predictive model was adjusted for possible confounding due to the type of clinic and demographic variables. In this study the most important predictors of patient satisfaction were those related to efficient clinic operation (scheduling of appointments and clinic waiting time) and the quality of the patient-physician interaction. Clinic facilities (like clinic location and ease of phone contact) were not significant predictors. Because patients often have difficulty assessing the technical skills of physicians, this variable was not a significant predictor. To improve patient satisfaction in plastic surgery outpatient clinics, efforts and resources should be directed toward expedient and empathic delivery of care.