ObjectiveTo understand the experiences of out-patient services of the elderly patients, and to analyze the impact factors of the satisfaction of elderly patients, so as to produce evidence for healthcare quality improvement. MethodsBased on the data collected from the out-patient survey of the 2015 Evaluation of the National Healthcare Improvement Initiative, we compared the disparities of patient satisfaction among different age-groups, between different geographic regions and different types of hospitals. We conducted multivariate binary logistic regression analysis to identify factors, associated with the satisfaction of the elderly outpatients. We also compared satisfaction of the Chinese elderly patients with healthcare services with other countries. ResultsSatisfaction scores of the Chinese elderly out-patients were statistically significant higher than that of the young and middle aged out-patients in the domains of hospital environment (satisfaction score=4.42), process efficiency (satisfaction score=4.20), and overall satisfaction (satisfaction score=4.47) (P < 0.001). On the contrary, the elderly out-patients were less satisfied in the domain of hospital informationization experience (satisfaction score=4.25) than the young and middle aged out-patients. This was also the case for the three indicators under this domain, including convenient appointment (satisfaction score=4.27), diversified payment methods (satisfaction score=4.24) and self-service devices (satisfaction score=4.26) (P < 0.001). Western region and traditional Chinese hospitals had significantly lower elderly outpatient satisfaction comparing with eastern and central regions, and general & specialist hospitals (P < 0.05). Trustful doctor-patient relationship (OR=3.45), respected and comfortable care (OR=1.45), clear and reliable mechanism and channel for praise and complain (OR=1.39), length of communication time with doctors (OR=1.35) and length of waiting time until consultation is acceptable (OR=1.29) were the major factors associated with the overall satisfaction of the elderly out-patients. The overall satisfaction of the Chinese elderly out-patients is a bit lower than that in our neighboring country Japan. The satisfaction towards length of communication with doctors of the Chinese elderly patients is lower than that in most of the industrialized countries. ConclusionSpecial demands of the elderly patients should be carefully considered by hospitals in the process of developing new appointment methods and hospital informationization with the aim of healthcare improvement. Longer communication time with doctors, shorter waiting time until consultation, improving human care and building efficiency mechanism and channel for praise and complain are the priorities for future healthcare improvement.
Objective To construct an information hospital service system and discuss the application effect of information construction in the hospital service center. Methods Patients admitted to West China Hospital of Sichuan University between June 2022 and January 2023 were selected. We innovatively practiced intelligent safety gate, self-appointment admission registration, pre-hospital examination and advance migration, pre-hospital health education, an age-appropriate transformation of information service, and other information service measures to investigate the medical experience of patients, and compared patients’ satisfaction with medical treatment under four admission management methods (Huayitong APP, WeChat, self-service machine, and manual management). Results A total of 1452 patients were surveyed. The overall satisfaction score for medical treatment of patients was (4.98±0.04) points. Among them, Huayitong APP was (4.99±0.03) points, WeChat was (4.98±0.13) points, self-service machine was (4.97±0.05) points, and manual treatment was (4.92±0.11) points. There was a statistically significant difference between groups in overall satisfaction with different admission procedures (F=68.582, P<0.001). Since the information construction of the hospital admission service center was carried out, the average time of admission was (12.4±2.3) minutes, and 89.4% (1 298/1 452) of patients thought the time of admission was ideal. Conclusions The information construction of a hospital admission service center can effectively improve patients’ medical experience and enhance patient satisfaction. In the future, it is necessary to explore the influencing factors of patients’ satisfaction with information construction, and constantly improve and upgrade the information construction of hospital admission service centers.
Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is a leading diagnosis and treatment model widely respected in modern international medical field, which plays an important role in clarifying disease diagnosis, determining treatment direction, and reducing patient time and labor cost. In recent years, China has issued relevant policies to encourage hospitals to vigorously develop MDT. West China Hospital of Sichuan University established a MDT clinic in 2013. Through continuous innovation and bold breakthrough in terms of experience accumulation, clinical resource integration, disciplinary collaboration and other aspects, the hospital breaks the barriers of MDT, timely helps complex severe diseases patients to solve the diagnosis and treatment needs, provides patients with the best personalized treatment plan, and continuously improves the medical experience of patients. Therefore, this article introduces and summarizes the implementation process and experience of MDT outpatient clinic in West China Hospital of Sichuan University.