Continuity of Care in Psychiatric Outpatient Practice: Effect On Patient Satisfaction.

Abstract

Evidence supports the hypothesis that the patient-psychiatrist relationship is a central feature of psychiatric care. It is also known that patient treatment satisfaction will result in improved adherence; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient treatment satisfaction and continuity of psychiatric care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the extent to which the continuity of psychiatric care is related to patient satisfaction. This research was conducted as an observational, non-experimental survey of all the patients who attend the NZOZ Centrum Terapii DIALOG in Warsaw, Poland. Patient satisfaction was assessed by using the 10-point subjective scale (1- lowest, 10 – highest level of satisfaction). A total of 160 patients met the inclusion criteria; 92 of them have visited a psychiatrist less than 5 times, 68 of them visited psychiatrist 5 times or more. The probability of the patient’s recommendation of the psychiatrist as calculated by the NPS method was 72,83% of the patients that have visited psychiatrist less than 5 times and 64,71% of the patients that have visited a psychiatrist 5 times or more. The average level of satisfaction was 9,16 points for the first group, and 8,89 points for the second group. The results of this study show the adverse correlation between continuity of psychiatric care and patient satisfaction. Further investigation should be made on how to prevent a decline in the level of patient satisfaction during continuous psychiatric care.