Compassion or speed, which is a more accurate indicator of healthcare quality in the emergency department from the patients’ perspective

Beattie, Michelle; Atherton, Iain; McLennan, Beverley; Lauder, William

Abstract

Rationale, aims and objectives: Devising indicators to measure quality of care is challenging in Emergency Departments (ED). It is difficult to measure aspects of quality which are less amenable to measurement; hence waiting time has often been relied on. This study aimed to determine whether patients’ perceptions of empathy are a measurable indicator of quality of care in comparison to waiting time within the ED.

Method: A cross sectional survey of patients who attended an ED during a 10 day period was conducted to assess correlation between a measure of empathy (the CARE measure), waiting times and perception of care quality. Data other than waiting times were obtained using a questionnaire completed by patients immediately on completion of treatment. Waiting times were obtained from an existing database. Both waiting times and CARE scores were correlated with responses to a patient satisfaction question using Spearman’s rho.

Results: Of the 81 patients who participated the majority reported care to be good (21%) or very good (75%). Waiting times varied between 11 minutes and 5 hours 17 minutes. CARE scores ranged from 12 to 50 (mean 41.1). Analysis showed a statistically significant relationship (p

Citation

Beattie, M., Atherton, I., McLennan, B., & Lauder, W. (2012). Compassion or speed, which is a more accurate indicator of healthcare quality in the emergency department from the patients’ perspective. International journal of person centered medicine, 2, 647-655

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2012
• Deposit Date: Jan 27, 2015
• Electronic ISSN: 2043-7749
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 647-655
• Keywords: Emergency department; empathy; quality measurement; quality of healthcare; waiting time
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/7519
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5750%2Fijpcm.v2i4.306