PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to explore the degree of delay in waiting time, and the relationships of waiting time, patient satisfaction, and revisiting intention of outpatient in general hospitals.
METHODS
The data were collected from June 22 to July 4, 2009. A total of 536 outpatients who visited 21 clinics of a general hospital were subjected to evaluate the waiting time. The survey tools used were the Korea Health Industry Development Institutes (2008) tool for patient satisfaction and Reichheld & Sasser (1990) for revisiting intention. The data were analyzed by SAS version 9.1, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient.
RESULTS
The mean patient's waiting time was 28.3+/-30.7 min, the revealed mean score of patient's satisfaction was 2.92, and the revisiting intention showed was 4.56. The waiting time was negatively correlated with patient's satisfaction (r=-.10, p<.019). Patient's satisfaction was positively correlated with revisiting intention (r=-.51, p<.001).
CONCLUSION
Waiting time management is an important factor of increasing patient's satisfaction and revisiting intention in general hospitals. It is mandatory that reservation management systems take into account the patient's characteristics of visiting outpatient department in order to shorten the real waiting time.

Citations

• Evaluation of Patient No-Shows in a Tertiary Hospital: Focusing on Modes of Appointment-Making and Type of Appointment
  Mi Young Suk, Bomgyeol Kim, Sang Gyu Lee, Chang Hoon You, Tae Hyun Kim
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.2021; 18(6): 3288.     CrossRef
• Application of Queueing Theory to the Analysis of Changes in Outpatients' Waiting Times in Hospitals Introducing EMR
  Kyoung Won Cho, Seong Min Kim, Young Moon Chae, Yong Uk Song
  Healthcare Informatics Research.2017; 23(1): 35.     CrossRef
• Implementation of Hospital Examination Reservation System Using Data Mining Technique
  Hyo Soung Cha, Tae Sik Yoon, Ki Chung Ryu, Il Won Shin, Yang Hyo Choe, Kyoung Yong Lee, Jae Dong Lee, Keun Ho Ryu, Seung Hyun Chung
  Healthcare Informatics Research.2015; 21(2): 95.     CrossRef
• Predictors of Patient Satisfaction with Tertiary Hospitals in Korea
  Hye-Sook Ham, Eun Hee Peck, Hee Soo Moon, Hye-A Yeom
  Nursing Research and Practice.2015; 2015: 1.     CrossRef
• Use of Patient Flow Analysis to Improve Patient Access and Clinical Efficiency by Decreasing Patient Wait Time in a Tertiary Community Hospital Ob/Gyn Ambulatory Women’s Clinic: A Quality Improvement (QI) Project
  Shadi Rezai
  Obstetrics & Gynecology International Journal.2015;[Epub]     CrossRef
• A Study on the Improvement of Outpatient Process Using Simulation
  Hyun-Sook Choi, Eun Hee Ji, Sung-Hong Kang
  Journal of Digital Convergence.2014; 12(8): 377.     CrossRef
• A Context-Aware Treatment Guidance System
  Hwa Young Jung, Jae Wook Park, Yong Kyu Lee
  Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information.2014; 19(1): 141.     CrossRef
• Analysis of Appropriate Outpatient Consultation Time for Clinical Departments
  Chan Hee Lee, Hyunsun Lim, Youngnam Kim, Ai Hee Park, Eun-Cheol Park, Jung-Gu Kang
  Health Policy and Management.2014; 24(3): 254.     CrossRef
• Economic Evaluation of a Workplace Occupational Health Nursing Service: Based on Comparison with Atmospheric Environment Managing Engineer
  Hye-Sun Jung, Bokim Lee
  Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing.2013; 43(4): 507.     CrossRef
• Korean Scaling Fear(KSF-1.1) and related factors in scaling patients
  Myung-Sook Cho
  Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene.2013; 13(6): 977.     CrossRef