Assess the Level of patient Satisfaction on Quality of Out patient Services provided in Outpatient Department at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry

Abstract

Patient satisfaction with a health care provision is based on satisfaction with numerous aspects of organization. Satisfaction with quality of health care facility includes a delicate balance between expectation of services and care received by patients. Out Patient Department (OPD) is a very crucial department of any hospital being the first point of contact between the patient and the hospital staff. It reflects the functioning of the hospital as OPD is visited by large section of community. In developed countries, patients are highly satisfied (90-95%) with the basic services provided at OPD, while in developing countries it has been shown that, the range of patients’ satisfaction vary between 95% to <50%. So, it is important to assess the level of patient satisfaction on quality of outpatient services. Objectives: To assess the level of patient satisfaction with quality of outpatient services provided at OPD. To find out the association between the patient satisfaction with the selected demographic variables. Methodology: Non experimental, Descriptive study was conducted among 265 outpatients attending Medicine OPD. Convenience sampling technique was used in this study. The data related to demographic variables and level of patient satisfaction on quality of outpatient services was collected from every participant. 20 minutes was spent for each patient to collect the data. Results: Among 265 Outpatients, Majority of the study participants 178(68%) were fairly satisfied, 57(21%) of them were completely satisfied and 30(11%) of them were dissatisfied with the quality of patient services provided at medicine OPD, PIMS Puducherry. Fisher's Exact Test was used to find out the association between the Level of Patient Satisfaction on Quality of Out Patient Services with their selected demographic variables. The demographic variables such as age, gender, education, occupation, residence and previous visit to medicine OPD for consultation were not associated with the Level of Satisfaction with regard to the quality of services provided at OPD. Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the patients were fairly satisfied with the quality of the services received at OPD. So, there is a need for improvement in the services provided at the services provided at the OPD.