What are the major factors influencing patients' decision in queuing up for registration in a General Out-Patient Clinic attached to a regional hospital?

Abstract

Objective: 1) To describe the characteristics of patients queuing up for registration in the General Out-Patient Clinic (GOPC) of Kwong Wah Hospital. 2) To explore the reasons for queuing up in a GOPC for registration. 3) To explore patients' preference of the different methods to obtain registration. Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Subjects: 898 patients were successfully interviewed by random recruitment of those who had walked-in registration for medical consultation in Kwong Wah Hospital GOPC during the period from 1 st March 2006 to 30 TH September 2006. Main outcome measures: Data included the basic demographic data, queuing time, reasons for selecting the time to start queuing, reasons for choosing GOPC KWH and the preferred method of getting registration. Results: 61.8% had queued up for more than 2 hours in order to obtain registration. The main reasons for respondents choosing the time to start queuing were fear of not getting a registration number (41.2%), preference for morning registration (17.4%), and intention to go home earlier after consultation (10.8%). The main reasons for choosing GOPC KWH were close proximity of the clinic to their residence (28.3%) and the medical provision was free (27.2%). 42.1% preferred to have pre-scheduled appointment booking system for patients with chronic illnesses. 37.4% would like to try one day advanced telephone booking. Conclusion: Provision of different modes of booking and appointment procedures might be more appropriate to meet the needs of patients.