This descriptive, cross-sectional study was designed to determine the patient satisfaction of outpatient clients regarding outpatient services of selected DOH-retained hospitals in Region IX. This study was intended to provide meaningful and practical recommendations to DOH-retained hospitals in Region IX on the value of developing and creating data-driven strategies for the continuous improvement in the delivery and quality of outpatient healthcare services that are responsive to the needs of their clients in every level of the socioeconomic strata. The study randomly surveyed a total of 414 respondents from three DOH-retained hospitals in Region IX. A stratified random sampling for subject selection was done and survey was completed over the course of a 4-week period. The respondents answered a self-administered questionnaire. The Satisfaction with Outpatient Service Questionnaire (SWOPS) developed by the Health Services Research Centre at the Department of Psychology, Royal College Surgeons in Ireland was utilized. The data gathered were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics. From a Likert scale of 1 to 5, the overall satisfaction rating of the three DOH-retained hospitals was 4.16 ± 0.67 . Among the dimensions of satisfaction, satisfaction was highest for quality of nursing care (4.33 ± 0.64), and lowest for ease of registration services (3.86 ± 0.83) and convenience and availability of testing services (3.88 ± 0.85). At the end of the study, the following conclusions emerged:1.) Satisfaction ratings are good or satisfactory both overall and across hospitals. 2.)Respondents generally reported being most satisfied with dimensions such as quality of nursing care and doctor care. 2.) While general satisfaction ratings are good or satisfactory, some needs remain to be addressed. Dimensions such as testing services and registration services are among the areas for improvement across all three hospitals, albeit at varying degrees.

Keyword: Patient satisfaction of outpatient clients DOH-retained hospitals