Service Quality, Trust, and Outpatient Satisfaction under Waiting Pressure: Evidence from Multiple Care Settings

Data were collected from outpatients in Taiwan immediately following the completion of their medical consultation, while they were waiting to complete administrative procedures such as payment or medication collection. This timing was selected to ensure that respondents’ evaluations reflected recent and salient service experiences, including interaction quality, process performance, and waiting conditions during the outpatient visit. A proportionate sampling strategy was employed to ensure balanced representation across the three levels of healthcare institutions. Trained research assistants approached eligible patients in outpatient waiting areas, explained the study purpose, and obtained informed consent prior to questionnaire administration. Inclusion criteria required respondents to be at least 18 years of age, to have completed the current outpatient visit, and to be able to read Chinese. Consistent with recommended guidelines for SEM and multi-group analysis (Kline, 2016), data were collected using a combination of paper-based questionnaires and mobile QR-code surveys to accommodate different respondent preferences. Of the 381 questionnaires returned, 345 valid responses were retained after excluding incomplete or ineligible cases, yielding an effective response rate of 90.55%. The final sample comprised patients from medical centers (N = 111), regional hospitals (N = 114), and clinics (N = 120).

本研究数据采集自中国台湾地区的门诊患者，采集时机为其完成门诊诊疗后、等待办理缴费或取药等行政手续期间。选择该采集时机旨在确保受访者的评价能够反映其近期且清晰可感的门诊服务体验，包括医患互动质量、诊疗流程表现及门诊等候环境。研究采用分层比例抽样策略，以确保样本在三级医疗保健机构中分布均衡。经过培训的研究助理在门诊等候区接洽符合条件的患者，说明研究目的并获取其知情同意后，进行问卷发放。本次研究的纳入标准为：受访者年满18周岁、已完成本次门诊诊疗且具备中文阅读能力。本研究遵循结构方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling，SEM）及多群组分析的推荐规范（Kline, 2016），采用纸质问卷与移动QR码问卷相结合的方式采集数据，以适配不同受访者的使用偏好。本次共回收问卷381份，剔除填写不完整或不符合条件的样本后，最终保留有效问卷345份，有效回收率为90.55%。最终样本涵盖来自医学中心（N=111）、区域医院（N=114）及诊所（N=120）的门诊患者。