Patient‐focused glaucoma care delivery, maintaing quality despite cost limitation

Abstract

SummaryTo assess the degree of patient satisfaction in a Glaucoma Outpatient centre and its correlation with the subjective scoring of the Ophthalmologist for the quality of provided care using a short not‐validated questionnaire. The practice of medicine has evolved in the latest decade. Disruptive innovation in healthcare causes a shift away from traditional health care venues like hospitals into clinic settings and outpatient's facility. There is also transference of skills from highly trained sub‐specialist to more accessible specialist. The outpatient offices, especially in Belgium provide accessible and fast services in a convenient location. In order to remain competitive the outpatient offices have to provide high level of healthcare quality. In the published report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) set forth six aims for a quality health care system: safe, equitable, evidence based, timely, efficient and patient centered. The latter three factors directly influence patient satisfaction. The patient satisfaction on the other hand has been commonly used as an indicator for measuring the quality of care given by the health professionals. In this lecture we explain patient's motivations for their satisfaction degree during an outpatient Glaucoma clinic.