Patients' experience with appointment length | Health Quality Alberta Focus

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Patients’ experience with appointment length

Patients’ survey rating of the amount of time their primary care provider gave them in their most recent visit. (See data definition).

*Data courtesy of Health Quality Alberta Primary Care Patient Experience Survey.

What do you think?

  • Do patients think that primary care providers are spending enough time with them?
  • How do your experiences with your appointment length compare to those reported by other Albertans?

Understanding "amount of time the primary care provider spent with me"

In surveys conducted between October 2018 and March 2023, Health Quality Alberta asked patients who recently visited their primary care provider, “how would you rate the amount of time your primary care provider gave you in your most recent visit?”

Patients could choose “excellent / very good / good / fair / poor”.

Patient experience is likely better if patients feel enough time is spent with them during the scheduled visit. During their visit, patients may have one, or multiple, things that they want to speak to their care provider about. Addressing what is important to the patient may take time, requiring the provider to be flexible with appointment times to ensure needs are met.

Considerations when viewing the results

There are a number of factors that the offices of primary care providers can consider if looking to improve patient’s experiences with the length of their appointment. Some questions they could ask include:

  • Does the provider’s appointment schedule allow enough time for a visit? What processes are in place to understand how long different appointment types take? How are appointments that require extra time accounted for?
  • Do patients know how long of a visit to expect when they request an appointment? Is the team responsible for booking patient visits equipped to ask questions that can determine the type and expected length of time for the visit?
  • Do patients feel rushed and pressured for time when the clinic is behind schedule? How are patients communicated with if the clinic is behind schedule or short staffed? Are patients kept in the loop regarding clinic delays?
  • At the time of the visit, is the provider able to spend the amount of time needed to provide care to the patient or are there competing priorities?
  • Was the room prepared with the equipment needed for the visit? Was there enough time left at the end of the visit for the care provider to complete documentation?

For information about Health Quality Alberta’s patient experience surveys offered to individual clinics in Alberta, please visit Health Quality Alberta’s website.