Patient Satisfaction in the newly commissioned Ultrasound Department of an Oncology hospital and Assessment of Average Waiting Time- Dr Sahithi Purnima Gummadi

Ultrasound department is one of the most important diagnostic modalities in radiology. It caters to general checkups, scans and screenings for all outpatients as well as in patients. It has an average footfall of over thousand patients. The ultrasound department has been recently shifted to another area of radiology following which this study was taken up. Waiting time is always a crucial part of this department because the patient needs to drink water and wait till the urinary bladder is full which is a mandatory requirement for the scan and procedures to provide a good outcome. After the department has been shifted, the patients have started to face numerous problems like increased waiting time and the directions to the newly commissioned department, etc. The vision, mission and values of the organization speak about patient centric approach giving priority to the needs of the patient. This study was recommended in order to understand the average waiting time for the scan and reasons for increase of the same. A patient satisfaction survey is a tool to gather patient feedback regarding the quality of services and medical treatment provided by hospitals and medical centers. Patient surveys are extremely helpful to identify, measure, and address performance gaps. The sample size was 150 patients who visited ultrasound department of radiology. Complete enumeration of 3 months data was considered to calculate average waiting time.
The lowest patient satisfaction index was obtained for waiting time post registration and before entering the Ultrasound room for scan or a procedure. When asked patients for remarks or suggestions, 10 of them have written their concerns regarding the waiting time prior to scan. The second highest category of concern was the billing process wherein the patient gets advised for the scan/procedure by the respective doctor, he/she then needs to go to the ultrasound department to get a code slip for that specific scan. The patient then needs to get it billed in the front lobby of main building and return back to the ultrasound department before getting registered for the scan. The next category of highest concerns belongs to the cleanliness of the department and the washroom where in concerns were raised by 5 patients/attenders. The next area of concern was the coordination between staff of various areas. Other concerns were raised regarding the non-working condition of TV. On a positive note, there were highly good remarks regarding the doctors’ service and the facilities at the department.