Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Background: The time taken by the patients during their visit to the hospital out-patient department (OPD) at various service delivery points, the time motion study and by assessing the patient satisfaction regarding the hospital out-patient department, the present study was conducted. This study established the clinical workflow of various events and the operational efficiency of the out-patient department in a busy tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu. Methods: The data pertaining to the time motion study was recorded in hours, minutes and seconds. The patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ-10 item questionnaire) was requested by interviewing the patients. The data was statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel and the SPSS v26.0. Results: The maximum time spent was at the investigation counter 00:15:12 and SD was ±00:08:56. The total average waiting time spent during the hospital visits was 00:32:25±00:18:17. The patient satisfaction questionnaire revealed that the overall satisfaction was found to be good in 38 (62.3%) and excellent in 10 (16.4%). Conclusions: The time spent at the investigation counters which was at the peak can be reduced by prioritization and faster case work-up. The staffing pattern was adequate except on government holidays, there were no particular delay in the OPD care setting.
Karthikeyan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.