Abstract
BackgroundLong patient-clinic encounter time is typical of many hospital general outpatient departments (OPD) in Nigeria.ObjectivesThe objectives of our study were to determine the time spent by patients at the service points in the general OPD of the National Hospital Abuja (NHA), to establish the perception of patients regarding the patient–clinic encounter time, and to describe the level of satisfaction of patients with the services received.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the general OPD of the NHA. Information relating to the time spent at the various service points amongst others were obtained from 320 randomly selected patients using a patient administered validated questionnaire.ResultsTwo hundred and seventy (84.4%) patients responded adequately and were analysed. The median patient–clinic encounter time was 2.7 hours (range 0.2–7.2 hours). The long patient–clinic encounter time was accounted for mainly by the waiting time to see a doctor which was a median of 1 hour (range 0–5.6 hours) and time spent at the medical records with median of 0.5 hours (range 0–5 hours). There was a significant relationship between a short waiting time as perceived by patients, clinic visit encounters where patients’ expectations were met or surpassed, and overall patient satisfaction with the clinic visit encounter (p < 0.001).ConclusionReduction in patient–clinic encounter time and meeting patients’ pre-visit expectations could significantly improve patient satisfaction after clinic visit encounter at the general OPD of NHA.
Highlights
IntroductionKey FocusSatisfaction is an important outcome of healthcare. Clients judge the quality of care received based on their satisfaction with the services provided.http://www.phcfm.org doi:10.4102/phcfm v4i1.398
Key FocusSatisfaction is an important outcome of healthcare
National Hospital Abuja is located at the central district of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which is located at the centre of Nigeria
Summary
Key FocusSatisfaction is an important outcome of healthcare. Clients judge the quality of care received based on their satisfaction with the services provided.http://www.phcfm.org doi:10.4102/phcfm v4i1.398. Satisfaction during a health care encounter is related to the relationship between the patients’ expectations and experiences.[1] Patients’ satisfaction can be improved when health workers meet their expectations and decrease the total time spent in a clinic.[1] Experience with a healthcare service can have a direct impact on the patient’s expectations of the services.[2] Expectations refer to what patients think they will receive, what they desire, what they feel to be important or what they feel entitled to when seeking care.[3] The relationship between expectations and experience is not always direct, but when experience deviates substantially from expectations, dissatisfaction results.[4]. Patient satisfaction in terms of healthcare is important because it may influence patients’ attitudes towards healthcare services[5,6] Satisfied patients are more likely to seek medical advice, adhere to treatment recommendations, keep appointments, and refer other patients to their physician.[6,7]
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