Improving patient satisfaction with time spent in an orthopedic outpatient clinic

Abstract

Objective

To determine if patient satisfaction can be improved by changing patients’ expectations of the clinic visit and by decreasing the total time spent in the clinic.

Design

A prospective comparative analysis carried out in 4 phases.

Setting

An university-affiliated orthopedic outpatient clinic.

Patients

All patients seen in the orthopedic outpatient clinic were eligible. Phase 1 determined the total clinic time required by patient type; phase 2 assessed baseline satisfaction; phase 3 altered patients’ expectations; and phase 4 altered patients’ expectations and scheduled visits by patient type.

Intervention

Patient questionnaires.

Main outcome measure

Patient satisfaction with time spent in the clinic.

Results

Of 708 distributed questionnaires, 622 (88%) were completed (547 totally complete, 75 partially complete). Total time spent in the clinic decreased across phases 2, 3 and 4 (mean 99.2, 94.7 and 85.2 minutes, respectively, but was significantly different only between phases 3 and 4; p = 0.05, Duncan’s multiple range test). The percentage of patients who rated their waiting time as “excellent” increased across phases 2, 3 and 4 (14.6%, 18.8% and 31.1%, respectively; p = 0.0004, χ² test).

Conclusion

Patient satisfaction can be improved by altering patient expectations and by decreasing the total time spent in clinic.

Full Text

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