Waiting Time and Information Clarity Affect Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: Patient satisfaction is one indicator of the success of health services in hospitals. Data from the Sawahlunto Hospital showed that outpatient visits to the internal polyclinic at the Sawahlunto Hospital for January–October 2019 totaled 5,976 visits. The large number of visits requires officers to provide fast and appropriate services. The phenomenon found in the field is that patients often have to wait a long time to get nursing services at the internal pharmacy and can consult a doctor.

Purpose: This study aims to determine the relationship between waiting time, information clarity, and outpatient satisfaction at the internal polyclinic.

Methods: The univariate results show that 83.4% of respondents stated that the waiting time was long (> 60 minutes), 54.2% stated that information clarity was good, and 61.4% were satisfied with outpatient services.

Results: Bivariate results show a relationship between waiting time (p = 0.029 and OR = 9.538) and clarity of information (p = 0.000 and OR = 14.083) and outpatient satisfaction at the internal polyclinic of Sawahlunto Hospital in 2020. It was concluded that waiting time and clarity of information related to patient satisfaction.

Suggestion: The hospital should improve the quality of service at the polyclinic by conducting periodic evaluations to improve the quality of service-related waiting times and by creating information corners so that patient satisfaction can be further improved.