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International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology, E-ISSN: 2249-8109

 Volume 1, Issue 3, 2011 pp 96-103

Date of Publish: 05 December 2011

Research Article

Measuring patient satisfaction towards quality of outpatient care: a part of Health Systems Research

S.B. Jadhav^�, G.S. Lokhande^�, J.D. Naik^�, S.S. Rajderkar^�, S.P. Suryavanshi^�, K.R. Bhoye^�

^�Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Miraj Dist. Sangli (MS) INDIA.

Academic Editor:  Dr. Pawar D.D.

Health systems research is essential for the continuous evolution and refinement of health services. Patient satisfaction is increasingly considered to be one of the most important factors in the measurement of quality of medical care. Objective: to assess health consumer satisfaction with regard to clinical care such as the approach of the doctor, examination, education on taking medication, availability of services, waiting time, and cost provided in the outpatient department of a medical college hospital. Study setting: A Cross-sectional questionnaire-based observational study was undertaken during January 2010 to March 2010 in the Out-patient department of Government Medical College, Miraj, Dist. Sangli. (Western Maharashtra) A total of 3150 patients were selected by Simple random sampling. Results: Seating arrangement in OPD (70.57%), drinking water facility (68.41%), & cleanliness of OPD (78.22%) found to be good. 71.39% found the communication by the doctors good. Only 16.67% respondents were unsatisfied with the explanation of the disease given by doctor & 21.37% respondents were in doubt about the efficiency of the doctor. 38.95% of total respondents were unsatisfied with time required for investigations while 48.7% were unsatisfied with time spent in pharmacy. The nature of prescription was found to be �Complex & Difficult� in case of 30.86% respondents while 19.23% were unsatisfied with the instructions given regarding medications. Respondents rated their experience as Excellent for 22.15%, Good for 29.26%, Average for 30%, Poor for 8.79% & Very Poor for 9.8% respondents. Conclusions: Majority of the respondents in present study gave positive responses towards location of the hospital, timings of the OPD, seating arrangement, cleanliness, drinking water facility & information charts. While, negative responses were given for Enquiry section, toilet facility, cost of investigations, availability of medications and waiting time for registration, investigations & in dispensary.