The Buffering Effect of Humanity of Care in the Relationship between Patient Satisfaction and Waiting Time: A Cross-sectional Study in an Emergency Department

Sara Viotti, Claudio Giovanni Cortese, Jacopo Garlasco, Erika Rainero, Ifeoma Nneka Emelurumonye, Stefano Passi, Flavio Boraso and Maria Michela Gianino
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Sara Viotti: Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy
Claudio Giovanni Cortese: Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy
Jacopo Garlasco: Dipartimento di Scienze della Sanità Pubblica e Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy
Erika Rainero: Dipartimento di Scienze della Sanità Pubblica e Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy
Ifeoma Nneka Emelurumonye: Dipartimento di Scienze della Sanità Pubblica e Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy
Stefano Passi: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Torino 3 (ASL TO3), Italy
Flavio Boraso: Azienda Sanitaria Locale Torino 3 (ASL TO3), Italy
Maria Michela Gianino: Dipartimento di Scienze della Sanità Pubblica e Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: This study aims to examine whether humanity of care and environmental comfort played a role in moderating the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction in an emergency department (ED). The study used a cross-sectional and non-randomized design. A total of 260 ED patients in two hospitals in Italy completed a self-report questionnaire. Moderated regression showed that after adjusting for control variables, waiting time was significantly and inversely associated with patient satisfaction. Humanity of care and environmental comfort showed a positive and significant association with patient satisfaction. Finally, the interaction term between waiting time and humanity of care was found to be significant, whereas the interaction effect between waiting time and environmental comfort was not significant. The conditional effect showed that when humanity of care was low, waiting time was negatively and significantly related to patient satisfaction. By contrast, when humanity of care was medium and high, the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction was not significant. These findings shed light on the key role of humanity of care in moderating the relationship between waiting time and patient satisfaction. The complex interrelations emerged should be carefully considered when interventions to foster patient satisfaction in an ED context are planned.

Keywords: patient satisfaction; waiting time; humanity of care; environmental comfort; emergency department (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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