Abstract
BackgroundThis study examined the relationship between patient waiting time and willingness to return for care and patient satisfaction ratings with primary care physicians.MethodsCross-sectional survey data on a convenience sample of 5,030 patients who rated their physicians on a web-based survey developed to collect detailed information on patient experiences with health care. The survey included self-reported information on wait times, time spent with doctor, and patient satisfaction.ResultsLonger waiting times were associated with lower patient satisfaction (p < 0.05), however, time spent with the physician was the strongest predictor of patient satisfaction. The decrement in satisfaction associated with long waiting times is substantially reduced with increased time spent with the physician (5 minutes or more). Importantly, the combination of long waiting time to see the doctor and having a short doctor visit is associated with very low overall patient satisfaction.ConclusionThe time spent with the physician is a stronger predictor of patient satisfaction than is the time spent in the waiting room. These results suggest that shortening patient waiting times at the expense of time spent with the patient to improve patient satisfaction scores would be counter-productive.
Highlights
This study examined the relationship between patient waiting time and willingness to return for care and patient satisfaction ratings with primary care physicians
Two patient satisfaction scores were considered as outcomes in this study: ratings of the provider (Physician Care, 9 items) on the thoroughness of care, physician communication and follow-up, listening, demeanor, discussion of test results, answering questions, treatment success, and including the patient in decision processes; a second rating was of the practice (Office Practice, 5 items) and included items on continuity of care, convenience of facility, referrals, hours, and ability to meet health care needs of the patient
Time spent with the physician was found to be (Spearman rank) correlated with overall patient satisfaction rating at r = .51 compared to r = .31 for waiting time in the office
Summary
This study examined the relationship between patient waiting time and willingness to return for care and patient satisfaction ratings with primary care physicians. The literature on patient satisfaction with primary care indicates that key attributes of health care valued by patients are patient-centered, including time spent with the physician, willingness of the physician to listen to the patient, and expectations for treatment [1,2,3,4]. An anecdotal source of dissatisfaction with health care reported by patients is having to wait a long period of time in the office (Anderson, Barbara, Feldman, in press [5]), and several studies have documented the negative association between increased waiting time and patient satisfaction with primary care [6-10]. Time spent waiting is a resource investment by the patient for the desired goal of being seen by the physician and may be moderated by the outcome. Since the amount of daily clinic time per physician is a fixed asset, portioned out by patient demand or volume,
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