Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with Clinical Laboratory and Phlebotomy Services in a NABL Accredited Laboratory in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Eastern India: A Cross-sectional Study
Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with Clinical Laboratory and Phlebotomy Services in a NABL Accredited Laboratory in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Eastern India: A Cross-sectional Study
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Introduction: Clinical laboratories play an indispensable role in patient care.Laboratory results help in approximately 70% of medical decision making.Patients are the best source of information on quality of service provided by an Institute, as their feedback can help in future planning and taking corrective action.Aim: To evaluate patient satisfaction with clinical laboratory and phlebotomy services in a National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratory in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India.Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study, conducted from May 2021 to June 2021, on the patients visiting the central laboratory of Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
A total of 265 participants above the age of 18 years were included in the study.They were provided with a feedback Nutritionals - Infant questionnaire (13 questions).A 5-point Likert scale rating of very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, neutral, satisfied and very satisfied was used.Descriptive statistics such as number and percentage were used to present the data.Results: Out of the total, 96% was the response rate, hence, the complete questionnaires analysed were of 254 participants (130 males and 124 females).
Out of the total 254 participants, 155 (61%) were very satisfied, 61 (24%) were satisfied, 28 (11%) were neutral and 10 (3.93%) were dissatisfied with the overall laboratory services.Laboratory test results were reliable scored very high and was reported to be very satisfactory by 177 participants (69.68%), satisfactory by 51 participants (20.07%) and 165 participants (64.
96%) were very satisfied and 58 participants (22.83%) were satisfied with staff courtesy, skill and behaviour.However, none of the participants were very dissatisfied and 10 (4%) were dissatisfied, expected the laboratory services to be little better.For explanation of test results 79 participants (31.10%) were Baby Plate very dissatisfied and another 114 participants (44.
88%) were dissatisfied.A total of 34 participants (13.38%) were very dissatisfied and another 50 participants (19.68%) were dissatisfied with the given information about location and time of report collection.Conclusion: Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of the quality of service delivered.
The overall satisfaction level with the laboratory service was 85%, showing a majority of the participants were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall services of the laboratory.There is a need to improve on cleanliness and more emphasis is to be laid, on transmission of accurate and adequate information to the patients.