Patient satisfaction with clinical laboratory services at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundMonitoring patient satisfaction is an important and useful quality improvement tool for clinical laboratories in particular and health care organizations in general. Thus, this study aimed to assess patient satisfaction toward clinical laboratory services at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted and a convenient sampling technique was applied to recruit study participants. A total of 210 patients who had received laboratory services were included. A self-administered predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire was used, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews. A 5-point Likert scale with 1 and 5 indicating the lowest and highest levels of satisfaction, respectively, was used and their weighted average was used to categorize the satisfaction level of the patients. Chi square test was used (taking P≤0.05 as the statistically significant level) to find out if any association existed between the level of satisfaction and different attributes. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.ResultsThe overall level of patient satisfaction toward clinical laboratory services in this study was 59.7% with a response rate of 210 (100%). The Likert scale results of patient satisfaction of the laboratory services revealed that the mean rating values ranged from 3.05 (±1.12) to 4.12 (±1.08) out of a possible 5. Among the different indicators, patients were highly satisfied with the cleanliness of facility (82%), maintenance of privacy and confidentiality (83.2%), and the cost of the laboratory service (86.5%), while they were dissatisfied with the location of the laboratory (56%), latrine accessibility and availability (58.4%), and latrine cleanness and comfort (63.8%).ConclusionThe whole availability of requested tests, availability of place in blood drawing room to put personal things, and waiting time for specimen collection were found to have a statistically significant association with the overall satisfaction of patients toward clinical laboratory services. Therefore, these could be the possible determinants among others that account for the dissatisfaction of patients with clinical laboratory services.

Assessment of Customer Satisfaction with the Clinical Laboratory Services Provided in King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah

“…In our study, however, the factors with the highest satisfaction rate were critical results notifications (33.3%) and communication of laboratory personnel (26.5%). The mean score of the critical results notifications was 3.8 out of 5, which is higher than 2.57 [1] and lower than 4.3 [9] . Moreover, the least satisfaction rate in similar studies was related to test turnaround time (TAT) [5] , esoteric test TAT [9] , and laboratory essential instructions and guides [1] .…”

“…CAP Q-Probes studies were conducted to evaluate the level of physician satisfaction with the clinical laboratory services provided by multiple institutions in 2009 and 2016. The mean overall satisfaction scores were 4.1 (range, 3.6-4.6) and 4.1 (range 3.6-4.5) [5,9].…”

“…The mean overall satisfaction score ranged between 2.3 and 3.4 out of 5 [1] . The highest satisfaction rate in similar studies was related to the quality/reliability of test results and staff courtesy (89.9%) [5] , quality of results (51.9%) [9] and courtesy of laboratory personnel?? [1] .…”

Quality management and accreditation in laboratory hematology: Perspectives from India

“…Timely resulting of test results is an important for effective clinical care, and also has major implications for the cost of medical treatment worldwide. Total laboratory automation has been proven to result in improved turnaround time and decreased cost of laboratory staffing . Decreased duration of inpatient hospital stays are another important metric associated with optimized turnaround time.…”

“…Total laboratory automation has been proven to result in improved turnaround time and decreased cost of laboratory staffing. 30 Decreased duration of inpatient hospital stays are another important metric associated with optimized turnaround time.…”