Review of Patient Satisfaction Research to Improve Patient Surveys in Medical Imaging Departments

Abstract

Patient satisfaction is important to health care facilities because a satisfied customer tends to return for additional services. Identifying the characteristics that increase patient satisfaction can help facilities improve their process. Few studies have directly evaluated imaging departments, but the literature from other health care specialties can be applied when the environment is similar. Having a pleasant waiting experience has shown to have a positive impact on patients' overall satisfaction and perceived quality of care. Factors that have been linked to improved patient satisfaction include decreased wait time, decreased perceived length of wait time, and increased communication through written information or increased face-to-face time with a provider.

Competitive priorities and engagement: can they be a source of satisfaction? Customer-centered model

“…Healthcare systems should consider flexibility when introducing new treatments in response to the success of a new medical service and when a wide range of treatments is available to satisfy different types of medical descriptions. This result is in line with the findings of Hong and Naiji (2018), which showed that flexibility positively influenced patient satisfaction, and DiGiacinto et al . (2016) who found that managing patient expectations of wait time, along with demonstrating good communication and positive attitudes, improves overall satisfaction.…”

The Technical Assistant Model: Efficiency in Maternal Fetal Medicine

“…A literature review found wait times to be one of the most influential factors in patient satisfaction, even when considering the cost of treatment. 7 Another article indicated that waiting times and the environment patients are in can negatively impact a patient’s experience, with wait time ranked as the least satisfying aspect of patient experience. 8 In addition, the longer the patients spend waiting to be seen, the more negative the overall clinical experience is rated.…”

Prompt Attention of the Diagnostic Medical Imaging Centers in Tehran: An Experience of People with Physical Disability

“…In this study, we found that the average waiting time for taking imaging service from check in to the center till start of the diagnostic process was about one hour in the private sector, while one hour and a quarter in the public sector, that was significantly shorter in the private sector than the public. Of course, studies in other countries show that dissatisfaction rises when this time is longer than 20 minutes (17). An important recommendation to all centers could be adjusting the number of daily admissions and the interval between patients according to the type of diagnostic test to reduce waiting times, as well as considering the emergency cases that might be referred.…”

“…Furthermore, lack of adequate information needs recording of the experiences of people with disabilities in health indicators and health care services (16). There are studies about waiting time for receiving radiology services (1,7,17), but the special needs of people with physical disabilities who are one of the main diagnostic service users has not been highlighted. In our pilot study that was performed in summer 2016 in one of the comprehensive rehabilitation centers of Tehran regarding health system responsiveness to people with physical disabilities, medical imaging, as a part of the health care process, was considerably noticed by the respondents in terms of time scheduling of the medical imaging centers.…”