Korean J Fam Pract. 2016; 6(6): 629-634  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2016.6.6.629
The Relationship between Estimated Consultation Length, Patient-Related Factors, Doctor-Related Factors and Dissatisfaction Contents on the Hospital Outpatients: Based on Data of Voice of the Customer at a Hospital
Hongkyung Kim, Young-Jin Jeong*, Junyong Lee, Tae-Hee Jeon, Nayeon Moon, Sejung Kim, Jinweon Cho
Department of Family Medicine, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Young-Jin Jeong
Tel: +82-2-2225-1291, Fax: +82-2-484-1545
E-mail: kj1227@korea.com
Received: May 16, 2016; Revised: July 22, 2016; Accepted: August 26, 2016; Published online: December 20, 2016.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Recently, medical services of hospital administration have been customer-oriented due to improvements in lifestyle and drastic changes to the medical environment. These services have been performed before the patients’ eyes, showing that their satisfaction is important. Many earlier studies evaluated patient satisfaction through surveys, which is a method with some drawbacks. Therefore, this study used Voice of the Customer (VOC) data reported to Customer Service Centers and checked dissatisfaction factors. Relationships among estimated consultation length, patient-related factors, doctor-related factors, and dissatisfaction contents were reviewed.
Methods: VOC data reported from January of 2012 to May of 2015 were used. Electronic Medical record data were used to analyze average consultation length and demographic characteristics of outpatients and doctors. One hundred and sixteen VOC cases were statistically analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression.
Results: Among the total of 116 complaints by outpatients, unkindness and insufficient explanation (including unkindness, rudeness, insincerity, incompetence, and unfaithfulness) accounted for 56 cases (48.3%), making it the highest dissatisfaction factor. Doctors whose ages ranged from 40 to 50 years received a high number of complaints for unkindness and insufficient explanations, and this result was statistically significant (P=0.0608). Patients aged 65 years and over had more complaints over treatment than patients under 65 years, and this result was statistically significant (P=0.0895).
Conclusion: Almost half of outpatients’ VOC is due to unkindness and insufficient explanations. Consultation length does not influence the result, but age of doctor has a constant effect. As age of patient goes up, dissatisfaction rate over treatment increases.
Keywords: Patient Satisfaction; Outpatient; Doctor; Hospital Administration
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