Journal Review
Hedges JR, Trout A, Magnusson R. Satisfied patients exiting the emergency department (SPEED) study. Acad Emerg Med 2002; 9:15-21.
If you want to improve patient satisfaction, focus on how patients perceive wait times instead of just decreasing delays, say researchers from Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland and Carlton College in Northfield, MN. Using a computerized tracking system, the researchers tracked wait times of adult emergency department (ED) patients at an urban hospital. After a disposition decision was made by the ED physician, 126 patients were surveyed about overall satisfaction with the care they received and their perceptions of wait times.
The median wait time was 14 minutes for a room and 13 minutes until seen by a physician. However, overall satisfaction was linked more closely to the perception that the wait time was shorter than expected, rather than with the patients’ estimate of the wait time or the actual wait time itself. The same was true for the total time in the ED.
Trying to shorten delays may be more costly than trying to change perception of the wait times, suggest the researchers. "We believe that although patient satisfaction may be adversely impacted by either a long wait to be placed in an ED evaluation room, a long wait until a physician sees the patient, or even the total time at the ED, other interpersonal factors more strongly predict overall satisfaction," they conclude.
They suggest the following to satisfy ED patients:
- focusing more on interpersonal relationships, beginning at triage;
- meeting patient expectations for information exchange;
- paying close attention to patient needs for privacy and respect;
- explaining the reason for delays to patients;
- keeping patients informed about potential delays due to processing of ancillary tests, obtaining consultations, and obtaining in-hospital beds;
- guiding the patient and significant others toward realistic wait times.
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