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KMID : 0353019740110020273
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Korean Journal of Public Health
1974 Volume.11 No. 2 p.273 ~ p.289
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Patients´ Waiting Time in the Outpatient Departments
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Abstract
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This study was conducted, during the period of September through October 1974, to identify some factors influencing patient´s waiting time at the outpatient department in general hospitals.
The study dealt with six general hospitals, which were classified into 3 groups by ownership; two university hospitals, two municipal hospitals and two private hospitals.
The scope of the study was limited to measurement of patient´s true waiting time and physician´s service time in the outpatient department of internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics ant gynecology, and pediatrics.
The findings were summarized as follows:
1. The number of patients with additional payment (private patients) were 2 times as many as that of usual patients in the university hospitals (62. 1% and 68.0% in each hospital).
Department of internal medicine had the most number of patients (over 40%) among the four departments. The number of patients classified by first visit vs. revisit showed that both the private hospitals and university hospitals had more revisit cases (58.2% and 84.3%), however, municipal hospitals had more first visit cases (between 65.1% and 79.1%). Thus, it may safely be stated that the medical care utilization pattern of municipal hospital is more likely to be an affair of one-shot and all.
2. It was conspicuous that the patients with additional payment came to the hospital earlier than the usual patients.
Actually, they appeared 2.4 times more in the outpatient department before 9 o´clock. Their true waiting time, averagely, was longer than the usual patients´ by 9 to 18 minutes.
3. University medical doctors had shorter daily service time than the doctors in private or municipal hospitals by the range of 30 to 90 minutes.
Average medical consultation time per patient ranged from 5.2 minuets to 7.9 minutes. Also it was shown that the doctors in private hospital spent two minutes longer for medical consultation to a given case.
4. Most doctors began to see the patients 90 minutes since the outpatient department had opened. It seems that the fact has caused patients to wait for a long time.
5. The measurement of patient´s waiting time showed the following results.
1) university hospitals (93 and i3 minutes respectively)
2) Private hospitals (34 and 31 minutes respectively)
3) municipal hospitals (23 and 31 minutes respectively)
4) The patients at the department of internal medicine among others awaited the longest time.
5) Revisit cases took longer waiting time than the first visits in university hospitals, while, it was vice versa in private and municipal hospitals.
6) The waiting time for the cases with additional payment (99 and 76 minutes respectively) was longer than that for the usual cases (81 and 67 minutes respectively).
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