Post-COVID-19 Self- Reported Patient Satisfaction Outcomes from an Outpatient Primary Care Clinic
Abstract
Introduction: Patient satisfaction is the crux of high quality patient care, and a vital measure of healthcare quality. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape of healthcare, introducing increased application of telehealth, and few investigations have been done since to see the ways in which these changes have affected overall patient satisfaction. The aim of this study was to find the impact of perceived time spent with providers and actual time spent with providers during primary care visits on overall patient satisfaction, following the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: Patients interested in study participation were given a one-page (double-sided) questionnaire. The patients' visit and check out times were tracked; they were then instructed to fill out the questionnaire consisting of demographic and clinical questions, followed by inquiries regarding patient satisfaction and perception of physician compassion. No patient identifiers were collected in the questionnaire. Hard copies of the questionnaire were distributed to subjects by IRB-approved research team personnel.
Results: Of the 607 patients who consented, in response to "How long have you been going to this provider?", 277 (45.6%) selected " >=5 years," 129 (21.3%) selected "1 to 5 years," 47 (7.7%) selected "6 months to 1 year," and 90 (14.8%) selected "<6 months." In response to "How much time did your provider spend with you today?," 20 (3.3%) selected "<5 minutes," 33 (5.4%) selected "6-10 minutes," 161 (26.5%) selected "10-15 minutes," and 331 (54.5%) selected ">15 minutes." In response to "Was this time sufficient," 26 (4.3%) selected "no" and 520 (85.7%) selected "yes."
Conclusion: These results are part of a larger patient-satisfaction and compassion survey study on clinic staffing models post COVID-19. Most providers spent more than 15 minutes with their patients, and this was seen as a sufficient amount of time for the vast majority. Primary care patients were studied to develop an outcome that qualitatively measured patient care. They both show similar outcomes in both populations, and the majority of patients in both groups were found to show that time spent with their provider was sufficient. Further analysis of this data will look into specific waiting times and how that affects patient satisfaction and how that affects patient perceptions of physician compassion.