“The Association between Waiting Time and Patient Satisfaction in Outpatient Clinics” at “King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah”

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients have historically found lengthy wait times to be annoying, and this appears to be a consistent and important contributing factor in their unhappiness.  The timely, effective, and patient-centered delivery of high-quality healthcare is influenced by patient happiness, and patient satisfaction is linked to clinical outcomes, making it a key indicator for determining the quality of healthcare. Waiting time, which is a crucial component in determining service quality, could be a useful instrument for assessing patient satisfaction. It has been proven that waiting times and patient satisfaction have a significant inverse relationship. 

“OBJECTIVE”: The goal of this examination is to recognize the association among to come time and patient pleasure and to identify predictor’s patient satisfaction and waiting time in outpatient clinics in a KAMC, Makkah

SETTINGS/DESIGN: The project type is a descriptive-analytical research design. Undertaken at “King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah”.

“SUBJECTS AND METHODS”: A sample of 499 patients was recruited. The investigator collected the socio demographic data from patients’ electronic /files, the other data included patient waiting time, and patient satisfaction score, which was collected from the hospital quality department and patient experience department during the period of 2021.

RESULTS: The result shows that the remaining patients weren't happy, but nearly half of them were. Participants' satisfaction scores varied significantly according on their gender, age group, and type of visit. There is no statistical differences between satisfaction score with nationality and place of resident. The result also shows that by waiting time, the satisfaction rating varied dramatically. In addition, most of the participants who waited more than 20 minutes shows that they were dissatisfied. The test result also demonstrates that waiting time and satisfaction are related except consultation time it shows that no statistical relationship. Finally the result identified that age, gender and type of visit as significant predictors of patient satisfaction.

CONCLUSION: The necessity of assessment should be the emphasis of healthcare organizations the patient’s satisfaction in relation with waiting time in outpatient department since doing so will give a rudimentary comprehension of the patient's viewpoints on improving their satisfaction. This outcome can aid healthcare organizations in determining where they need to improve. In order to reduce outpatient waiting times, improve patient happiness, and determine the efficacy of interventions in healthcare settings, additional experimental research is necessary.