(0920) Does Clinic Diagnosis Impact Satisfaction Among Neurotology Patients?

Introduction: There is a lack of research exploring how a patient’s diagnosis impacts satisfaction. We hypothesize there are several factors that influence patient satisfaction including wait time, patient demographics, and diagnosis given at the initial encounter.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study in a tertiary referral center. Subjects studied included adult patients (>18 years old) with a completed Press Ganey survey, seen in an outpatient neurotology clinic. Only the initial visit score was evaluated. N = 497 patients from 2014-2018. “Satisfaction” was defined as patients with a total score of ≥ 25th percentile to mitigate the high ceiling effect of the survey. Charts were reviewed for the primary diagnosis given at the initial visit and categorized based on ICD 10 codes. Charts were also reviewed to see if patients were offered surgical intervention at the initial visit. Multivariate binary logistic regression was used to determine independent variables associated with patient satisfaction.

Results: Average age was 52.4 years, wait time was 17.8 minutes, and Press Ganey total score was 90.8. The cohort was 58.4% female and 77.8% Caucasian. Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference among patients given a primary diagnosis of a skull base tumor compared to patients without a tumor (p = 0.047; OR = 1.995). All other diagnoses, including dizziness and tinnitus, were shown to not have any statistically significant predictive power. Based on the diagnosis category, patients were 27.7 - 28.5% less likely to report satisfaction for every 10 minutes of additional wait time (p < 0.001). Additionally, patients were 9.4-11.2% more likely to report satisfaction for each 5 years of additional age (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Diagnosis of skull base tumor was an independent predictor of increased patient satisfaction. This is notable in showing that diagnosis can drive satisfaction results. Increased wait time and patient age were also independent predictors of patient satisfaction. These findings provide physicians with different factors that influence their patients’ experiences.