Patient Satisfaction with Anesthesia—Direct Interviews at Post-anesthesia Consultation Clinic—

Abstract

  The evaluation of services by patients is an essential component of quality improvement in anesthesiology. We reviewed post-anesthesia consultation notes for elective-surgery patients seen at the Nara Medical University Hospital since 1996 to determine what led to patient satisfaction. We concluded that patient satisfaction correlates with safety, comfort, and attention from the anesthesiologist. Anesthesiologists made every effort to improve the safety of anesthesia and the comfort of patients after anesthesia. However, we did not obtain satisfactory results from these efforts. There was a wide range of patient perceptions. We concluded that informed consent is important for patient satisfaction with anesthesia. The preoperative explanation by an anesthesiologist is thought to be important for patient understanding of anesthesia, and influences patient satisfaction with anesthesia. We present a novel system for an anesthesia consultation clinic in Nara Prefectural Mimuro Hospital to obtain better patient understanding of anesthesia.