Journal of Hospital & Medical Management

Assessment of Quality of Urological Care and Services in a Tertiary Care Center

Background: The standard of medical care remains one of
the biggest problems facing the health care system. In order
to determine whether medical treatment meets the
requirements of the health care system, the standard of
care must be evaluated. In evaluating health care services,
patient satisfaction is as important as medical outcomes
and expenditures.
Purpose: To evaluate the quality of health care in the
urology department and identifying areas for improvement.
Methods: This prospective study enrolled a total of 220
adult patients over 18 years of age were included in the
study. The modified questionnaire SWOPS and the
SERVQUAL questionnaire were used to analyse the data.
The modified questionnaire included basic demographic
information and multiple-choice questions designed to elicit
patients' comments on various aspects of the functional
quality of services provided at the urology clinic. The chisquare
test, t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were
used for statistical analysis.
Results: The average OPD registration time (minutes),
consultation waiting time (approximately minutes), and
consultation time (approximately minutes) were 18.85 ±
14.45 minutes, 55.79 ± 35.81 minutes, and 6.50 ± 2.46
minutes, respectively. The satisfaction rate was significantly
higher among specialists (82.29%) than among residents
(72.30%). However, no significant difference in satisfaction
rate was found based on benign/malignant disease or
gender. The time taken to register at the clinic and the
actual time taken to see a physician were significantly
different between the different OPD days.
Conclusion: Most patients expressed satisfaction with the
length of their consultation, the support they received from
staff, the contact between them and their physicians, and
their ability to participate in decision making. When the
patient was seen by a specialist rather than just a resident,
the patient was significantly more satisfied. Satisfaction
rates were significantly lower during the first week of OPD
days and on high patient volume days, especially given the
longer wait times for registration and consultation. To
increase patient satisfaction and provide higher quality care,
professionals would need to review patients more
frequently.

Author(s): Jayant Maurya*

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