A study of patient satisfaction level in Out Patient Department (OPD) in a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra (original) (raw)

Background: Patient satisfaction is one of the important goals of any health system, but it is difficult to measure the satisfaction and gauze responsiveness of health systems as not only the clinical but also the nonclinical outcomes of care do influence the customer satisfaction. The health sector in India is characterized by a public health sector and private sector. The major reason for choosing the public health services is its inexpensiveness, availability with close proximity. However, effectiveness of health system depends upon quality of services which is largely neglected. Patients are using public health services but majority are not satisfied.Patient's satisfaction depends on many factors such as quality of clinical services provided, availability of medicine, behavior of doctor and other health staff, cost of services, hospital infrastructure, physical comfort, emotional support and respect for patient preferences. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at DR.S.C.G.M.C. NANDED in 100 randomly selected patients. They were interviewed at the exit point of outpatient department during the period from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/17 after taking informed consent. The data were collected on predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Results: Most of the respondents were satisfied with availability of services , professional care, waiting time, behavior of consultant, nurses, paramedical staff and other staff. The overall satisfaction level was 73% excellent to good, 22% average and 94% respondents answered 'yes' to the question-'would you recommend this hospital to friends and fam-ily'. Out of total 68% respondents were unsatisfied with toilet facility and 56% were unsatisfied with drinking water facility. Conclusion: OPD services in a hospital need to be improved by developing patient feedback system.