Patients’ Waiting Time in a University Health Clinic

Abstract

Best practice management of a clinic can be measured through the achievement of appropriate waiting time and consultation time. These are important, especially in dealing with stable common cases seen in primary care. Among important associated factors include the number of patients per day, which can be various according to different operating days. Methods: This study aims to measure the waiting time and consultation time of common cases seen in the university health clinic for two weeks duration. The ‘time in’ and ‘time out’ information was captured on the information sheet attached to the patient’s registration slip. A descriptive analysis was done for common complaints, waiting time and consultation time duration. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to identify the association between different working days with waiting time and consultation time. Results: The results revealed a good mean waiting time 11.93 min (SD, 9.99) and consultation time 10.54 minutes (SD, 8.78) for the clinic. Waiting time is significantly associated with different operating days (P value < 0.05). Conclusion: The clinic’s waiting and consultation time is acceptable according to the target set by the Ministry of Health. However, further modification can be done to improve the time management of the clinic, specifically for the busy day.