xRead Article 1 - Electronic Consults in Otolaryngology
33
satisfaction. Furthermore, longer wait times have been shown to negatively impact not just overall experience with the provider, but also patients’ perception of the quality of their care, and the skill of the physician. Of note, the wait times in this study were self-reported on the Press Ganey, and not objectively measured. Therefore, they are subjective and do not distinguish between time spent in the waiting room versus time spent waiting in the examination room. Other data have demonstrated inconsistencies in patient-reported wait times compared to objective measurements of wait times. It will be important to better determine how objective and subjective measurements compare to better determine which aspects of the wait time are more strongly correlated with satisfaction, and to identify factors that may cause patients to misperceive wait times. Our " nding of decreased satisfaction in the pediatric population is consistent with the literature. Boss et al. demonstrated decreased signi " cant for children compared to adults, which was further increased by younger age of the child. This may potentially relate to the e # ect of wait times on satisfaction, as wait times are more impactful and stressful with an impatient child. In support of this hypothesis, Boss et al. found the largest di # erence between children and adults was the reported satisfaction regarding wait time length. Furthermore, communication in a pediatric encounter is complex, as the provider must appropriately engage and communicate with both the child and their caregiver. Another potential factor is that pediatric otolaryngology clinic encounters often involve physical exams and procedures that might cause a child discomfort, which may be distressing for parents. Additionally, the Press Ganey does not have child speci " c components, and it is therefore not able to fully capture the nuances of the pediatric encounter. As the survey is sent to the parent or caregiver, the survey represents the experience of this individual and not the minor themselves. Conversely, we found increased patient satisfaction with increasing age. We also found patients with Medicare reported higher satisfaction, which likely is related to the " nding of increased age. This may also relate to the importance of wait times. Medicare patients are more likely to be retired, and therefore do not have to take time o # from work, which can make wait times more stressful. This study demonstrated that race was signi " cantly associated with patient satisfaction. While this " nding was statistically signi " cant, our conclusions are limited by a small sample size. Minority populations make up a small proportion of the patient population who responded to the Press Ganey survey, and the ability to draw 37 50 50
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online