Patient satisfaction and out-patient services assessment in a tertiary hospital of South Odisha, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20171049Keywords:
Health care services, Outpatient department, Patient satisfactionAbstract
Background: The out-patient department of a hospital is for patients who do not require hospitalization but have come for their health needs, either for treatment or for diagnosis. The main objective of the study was to measure the satisfaction levels of the patients attending the OPDs of MKCG medical college.
Methods: Data were collected from OPD patients through pre-structured questionnaires in the local languages at the OPD of MKCG Medical College. The data were analysed using SPSS.
Results: Out of total 100 patients interviewed, 58 were males and 42 were females. 13% respondents were "highly unsatisfied" with the OPD services where as 65% were "unsatisfied", 15% were "satisfied" and only 7% "highly satisfied". 27% of the participants were from lower socio-economic status (SES), 70% were from middle class and the rest from upper class. 100% of those belonging to upper SES, 80% of middle SES and 70% of lower SES were highly unsatisfied or unsatisfied with OPD services. Most of the patients had come to attend the departments of Medicine (25%), Paediatrics (18%), Surgery (16%) and Obstetrics and Gynaecology (15%). 45% patients were visiting this facility for the first time. 11% of these new patients were Highly satisfied with the services while 31% of repeat patients were either satisfied or highly satisfied. The median waiting time between arrival and consultation was 1 hour. 84% participants had to incur out of pocket expenses. The mean amount spent was Rs. 350. 80% of those who had spent were of the opinion that they had to spend more than what was reasonable.
Conclusions: Patient satisfaction was significantly associated with SES, repeat visits, and waiting time between arrival and consultation. Measures to reduce out of pocket expenditure and waiting time may increase satisfaction levels in patients.
References
Mishra PH, Mishra T. Study of patient satisfaction at a super specialty tertiary care hospital. Indian J Clin Pract. 2014;25(7).
Prakash B. Patient satisfaction. J Cutan Aesthet Surg. 2010;3(3):151-5.
Alexander GC, Kurlander J WM. Physicians in retainer (“concierge”) practice: A national survey of physician, patient and practice characteristics. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20(12):1079-83.
Norwood SL. Research strategies for advanced practice nurses. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall Inc; 2000.
Kish L. Survey Sampling. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc.; 1995.
Roland M, Roberts M, Rhenius V, Campbell J. GPAQ-R: development and psychometric properties of a version of the general practice assessment questionnaire for use for revalidation by general practitioners in the UK. BMC Fam Pract [Internet]. 2013;14(1):160.
Goldstein E, Farquhar M CC. Measuring hospital care from the patients’ perspective: an overview of the CAHPS hospital survey development process. Heal Serv Res. 2005;40(6):1977-95.
Webster TR, Mantopoulos J, Jackson E, Cole-lewis H, Kidane L, Kebede S, et al. A brief questionnaire for assessing patient healthcare experiences in low-income settings. Int J Qual Heal Care. 2011;23(3):258-68.
Bahuguna P. Predictors of Patient satisfaction in three tiers of health care facilities of North India. J Comm Med Health Educ. 2014;s2(1):1-5.
Rajbanshi L, Dungana GP, Gurung YK, Koirala D, Satisfaction with health care services of out patient department at Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital, Nepal. J Chitwan Medical College 2014;4(1):11-8.
Nandkeshav AR, Kale KM, Rewatkar MP, Jain A, Barure BS. Patients’ waiting time and their satisfaction of health care services provided at outpatient department of government medical college, Nanded (Maharashtra, India). Int J Heal Sci Res. 2014;4(4):21-7.
Huang XM. Patient attitude towards waiting in an outpatient clinic and its applications. Health Serv Manage Res. 1994;7:2-8.
Kumari R, Idris M, Bhushan V, Khanna A, Agarwal M, Singh S. Study on patient satisfaction in the government allopathic health facilities of Lucknow district, India. Indian J Comm Med. 2009;34:35-42.
Mohd A, Chakravarty A. Patient satisfaction with services of the outpatient department. Med J Armed Forces India. 2014;70(3):237-42.
Archana R, Kar SS, Premarajan K, Lakshminarayanan S. Out of pocket expenditure among the households of a rural area in Puducherry, South India. J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2014;5:135-8.
Reddy KS, Paul VK. Europe PMC funders group towards achievement of universal health care in India by 2020: a call to action. 2016;377(9767):760-8.
Babu TS, Babu NS. A study on patient satisfaction in hospitals (a study on three urban hospitals in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh) T. Int J Manag Res Bus Strateg. 2012;1(1):100-18.
