Opurum Ndubuisi E, Kemdirim Chinonye J, Uduak Abasianam, Hart David, Ogaji Daprim Samuel
University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State, Nigeria.
J Patient Exp. 2022 Mar 7;9:23743735221077546. doi: 10.1177/23743735221077546. eCollection 2022.
While patient satisfaction is a core index for the assessment of health quality, waiting time and payment mode in hospitals could influence outpatients' flow and as well as their level of satisfaction. This study compared the waiting time of insured and uninsured patients seeking general outpatient care in a tertiary hospital. A total of 166 insured and 166 uninsured ambulatory adult patients seeking outpatient services were recruited by systematic random sampling and followed through their consultation at the outpatient clinic. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Science (version 20.0) at a 5% alpha level and power of 80%. There were more males (54.8%) among the insured and more females (53.0%) among the uninsured, but the difference was not statistically significant ( = .153). There were significant differences in mean total idle time during outpatient visits (md = 65.7 min; 95% CI: 69.1, 162.8; < .001) and total time spent (md=106.6 min; 95% CI: 204.8, 211.8; < .001) in favor of insured patients. The time spent during the consultation was not significantly different (md = 0.8 min; 95% CI: 0.2, 1.7; = .107). The insured patients were significantly more satisfied with the time spent waiting for nurses' and doctors' attention ( < .001). Significant variations exist in the time spent and level of satisfaction with time spent by insured and uninsured ambulatory patients. Findings call for improving efficiency in patient flow management especially for uninsured patients attending outpatient clinics in public hospitals.
虽然患者满意度是评估医疗质量的核心指标，但医院的等待时间和支付方式会影响门诊患者流量及其满意度水平。本研究比较了一家三级医院中参保和未参保患者寻求普通门诊护理的等待时间。通过系统随机抽样招募了166名寻求门诊服务的参保门诊成年患者和166名未参保门诊成年患者，并跟踪他们在门诊的就诊情况。使用社会科学统计软件包（版本20.0）进行描述性和推断性统计，显著性水平为5%，检验效能为80%。参保患者中男性较多（54.8%），未参保患者中女性较多（53.0%），但差异无统计学意义（P = 0.153）。门诊就诊期间的平均总空闲时间存在显著差异（中位数=65.7分钟；95%置信区间：69.1，162.8；P < 0.001），总花费时间也存在显著差异（中位数=106.6分钟；95%置信区间：204.8，211.8；P < 0.001），参保患者更占优势。会诊期间花费的时间无显著差异（中位数=0.8分钟；95%置信区间：0.2，1.7；P = 0.107）。参保患者对等待护士和医生关注的时间明显更满意（P < 0.001）。参保和未参保门诊患者在花费时间和对花费时间的满意度水平上存在显著差异。研究结果呼吁提高患者流量管理效率，尤其是公立医院中未参保患者的门诊就诊效率。
