PURPOSE: When using the emergency room of a tertiary hospital, both patients and their relatives or friends sometimes experience dissatisfaction and complain. Patient satisfaction deserves attention not only because it is an intrinsically worthy goal but also because it is a potentially significant mediator for promoting health and well-being. This study aims to identify patient's official complaints and to improve the quality of care in the Emergency Department (ED). METHODS: We investigated retrospectively 144 official complaints of visitors in 4 tertiary university hospital emergency centers between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003. RESULTS: Among those 144 official complaints from the 4 hospital emergency centers were 116 appropriate complaints, as determined by the inclusion criteria, and 212 detailed descriptions of dissatisfaction. The seven major categories of dissatisfactions were analyzed: rudeness or lack of kindness, delayed waiting time, insufficient explanation of patient condition, distrust of treatment, absence of a specialist, poor emergency-department environment, and high treatment fee. CONCLUSIONS: Dissatisfaction related to the lack of kindness was the most common problem in all four university hospital emergency centers. The next most important problem was the delayed time or distrust of treatment. The concrete causes of the complaints varied with the hospital. To improve the quality of care for patients in the ED, the hospital staff should be more attentive and kind and should explain the patient's condition in more detail. Reducing the waiting time is also important.
Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Fees and Charges ; Friends ; Humans ; Patient Satisfaction ; Retrospective Studies ; Specialization ; Tertiary Care Centers*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to review an implementation of u-Severance information system with focus on electronic hospital records (EHR) and to suggest future improvements. METHODS: Clinical Data Repository (CDR) of u-Severance involved implementing electronic medical records (EMR) as the basis of EHR and the management of individual health records. EHR were implemented with service enhancements extending to the clinical decision support system (CDSS) and expanding the knowledge base for research with a repository for clinical data and medical care information. RESULTS: The EMR system of Yonsei University Health Systems (YUHS) consists of HP integrity superdome servers using MS SQL as a database management system and MS Windows as its operating system. CONCLUSIONS: YUHS is a high-performing medical institution with regards to efficient management and customer satisfaction; however, after 5 years of implementation of u-Severance system, several limitations with regards to expandability and security have been identified.
Database Management Systems ; Electronic Health Records ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Hospital Records ; Information Systems ; Knowledge Bases