The PGH opthalmology outpatient clinic : a study on patients' waiting time and profile / Rosalita V. Tan

Given all the facilities, services and human resources in the PGH Outpatient Clinic, waiting time between sign-in and treatment still seems to be the major complaint among outpatients. The economic component of waiting time is significant in this research study. There is essential loss of income, no matter how meager, among family members or companions of outpatients. Since not all outpatients come from the greater Manila area, they have to consider additional budget for transportation, food and loding. Dislocation costs for transients can be alarming, too, since their stay with relatives can be limited or even prohibitive. This study showed that the mean waiting time of new eye outpatients is 2.5 hours before they are seen by an opthalmologist. This excludes time waited outside the Outpatient Clinic and time for consultation and treatment. The total new eye outpatients for 2002 is 17, 852, with an average of 1,488 per month and 73 per day. Eye outpatients comprise 11% of the total outpatients seen for 2002, 70% of which are seen in the General Clinic, 9% seen in the Medical Retina Clinic, 5% seen in the External Disease Clinic and 4% seen in the Glaucoma Clinic. For the last five years, an average of 78 new eye outpatients were seen per day. Eye outpatients come mostly from the NCR (66%), Region 3 (5%) and Region 4 (25%).

General Education.