title: Who is satisfied with general surgery clinic visits?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patient satisfaction is an important patient outcome because it informs researchers and practitioners about patients' experience and identifies potential problems with their care. Patient satisfaction is typically studied through physician-patient interactions in primary care settings, and little is known about satisfaction with surgical consultations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants responded to questionnaires before and after a surgical consultation. The study was conducted in a diverse outpatient clinic within a county hospital in Southern California. Participants were patients who came to the surgery clinic for their first appointment after referral from a primary care provider for a surgical consultation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients' ethnicity, educational attainment, and insurance status predict their satisfaction, and patients reliably differed in their satisfaction with care providers and with the hospital where they received their care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings add to knowledge about patient care by highlighting associations between patients' demographic characteristics and patients' differential satisfaction with particular entities within the context of surgical care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA. Electronic address: hophih@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ho Phi
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY.
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Legg
authors.affiliation: Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley, CA.
authors.forename: Arezou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghane
authors.affiliation: Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley, CA.
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabuenca
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sweeny
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000592:standards*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000592:standards; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards*; D066231:Surgeons / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Patient demographics; Patient expectations; Patient satisfaction; Surgical consultation