Patient satisfaction in a university hospital emergency department in Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
Patient satisfaction, an indicator of the quality of care provided by emergency department (ED) personnel, is a significant issue for EDs. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and to describe demographic characteristics of those surveyed in a university hospital ED.


METHODS
All adult patients who consecutively presented to the ED between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays were included in the study. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire prior to discharge. The questionnaire asked about the attitude, politeness, and efficiency of the medical and ancillary staff, the reason for preferring our centre and reasons for dissatisfaction.


RESULTS
Two-hundred and forty-five adult patients presenting to our ED were included in this study. Forty-five percent of patients preferred our ED because of the previous perception of higher quality of care, informed by other people previously treated in this ED unit, and 35% because of restrictions by their health insurance carrier. The main causes of patient dissatisfaction were lengthy waiting times (27%).


CONCLUSIONS
As a result, lengthy waiting time was the major reason for patient dissatisfaction, and high quality care together with insurance restrictions were the main reasons for preference of this university hospital ED.
Yildirim
Cuma
C
Gaziantep University Medical School, Gaziantep, Turkey. cyildirim@gantep.edu.tr
Kocoglu
Hasan
H
Goksu
Sitki
S
Gunay
Nurullah
N
Savas
Haluk
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003625:Data Collection; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014421:Turkey