Objective: To examine an outpatient department(OPD) in a hospital setting where patients are health care customers who draw conclusions about service quality, which are influenced by their service experiences.

Method: We measured the level of satisfaction of patients for the health service quality in a pediatric OPD clinics in a tertiary level hospital
over a period of 6 weeks. 245 parents, either father or mother, received self-administered questionnaire of 14 questions. At least one interviewer was present ready for any clarification.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 1.9±0.4 years , ratio of male: female patients are about 1:1. The mother accompanied patient for most of clinic visits (77.1%). Medical team (doctors, nurses, secretaries and pharmacists) attitude towards patients was the most important related factor with their evaluation of pediatric OPD reaching p-value<0.0001. Other factors, including provision of information about the visit, illness & treatment had significant impact on patients’ evaluation of health service. Protection of privacy had similar significance on the outcome of patients’ satisfaction. Car parking near the hospital and pediatric OPD and information on medication and their effects had great influence on results (p-values of 0.013 and 0.022 respectively). Unexpectedly, availability of the treatment had no effect on the overall evaluation (p=0.180).

Conclusion: Patient’s satisfaction with a health service is the main goal of product
design in the field of quality of health service. The provision of better health service quality in pediatric OPD is an area where much improvement can be made with minimal effort.