Improving outpatient satisfaction by extending expected waiting time.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Long waiting times result in low satisfaction. Although several methods are used to shorten the actual waiting time (AWT) in large hospitals of China, the outpatients still have a long actual waiting time. This study aimed to explore whether satisfaction could be improved by extending the expected waiting time (EWT) instead of shortening the AWT.

Methods

In October 2016, 257 students in grade one voluntarily participated in this study. They came from 6 classes, which were randomly divided into two groups: 3 classes comprised the control group (n = 125) and 3 classes comprised the experimental group (n = 132). Unfavorable information (UI) was given to the experimental group alone. Six distinct questionnaires were designed to explore the effects of UI on EWT and the

SUBMITTER: Ma WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6693195 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature