Estimate the Average Waiting time to Receive Service in the Outpatient Department: A Case Study on Shahid Rahnemoon and Afshar Clinics in Yazd, Iran

The amount of waiting time is an indicator of level of access to hospital services and can be measured as one of the indicators of the effectiveness of hospital performance. This study aimed to determine the average waiting time in Shahid Rahnamoon and Afshar clinics. This descriptive, analytical, cross – sectional study was conducted with a simple size of 264 patients in Shahid Rahnamoon and Afshar clinics in 1389. A check list was used to collect data and SPSS statistical software was used for analyzing the data. The results showed that waiting time in Shahid Rahnamoon and Afshar clinics were different. The average of waiting time for patients referred to Shahid Rahnamoon clinic was 7 minutes in the reception area, 1.8 minutes at the payment box, and 63.5 minutes in the waiting room. And the average waiting time for patients referred to Afshar clinic was 19 minutes in the reception area, 1.7 minutes at the payment box, and 38 minutes in waiting room. It seems that using the telephone voting system in clinics, determining special working programs for doctors, increasing the working hours of doctors, and increasing the number of physicians in clinics can reduce the waiting time.