Abstract :
A study on waiting time of patients in outpatient department was conducted in this hospital of northern India, with an aim to assess the services of outpatient department & suggests new ways to improve the health care system through research. A 100 respondents were chosen randomly from a pool of patients who visit the various OPD. The data was collected through questionnaire and interview.
Results: The study revealed 62 were male and 38 were female, 26 were below age 30 yrs & 40 were between age 30-50 yrs and 34 were above 51 yrs of age. The majority were married 76%. The 55% were local and 45% were from out station. The 37% were new registration and 63% were old patients. The majority (95) had spent less than 30 min at the registration and 49% has consultation time more than 30 min. The time spent in laboratory and radiodiagnosis for more than 30 min by 12% and 29% respectively.
The various factors like overlaps of round & OPD time, transportation time of sample and preparation time in radiology has been pointed out as major problem area.
Conclusion: Queuing method, advanced simulations & real time waiting system will be immensely helpful to provide efficient & appropriate health care.
Keyword :
OPD, Waiting time, Simulation, Screening, Queuing method.