Clients and clinician satisfaction with laboratory services at selected government hospitals in eastern Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted at Dil Chora, Jugal, Hiwot Fana and Bisidimo hospitals. Data were collected from 429 patients and 54 clinical service providers. A statistical analysis was conducted using Likert Scale and SPSS Version 16 software. Most of the patients (87.6%) were satisfied with the laboratory services. The lowest [2.48？±？1.39] and highest [4.27？±？0.83] rate satisfaction were on cleanness of latrine to collect specimens and availability of laboratory staff on working hours respectively. The extent of the patients’ satisfaction was different among the study hospitals (P-value？<？0.05). Most of the clinical services providers (80%) were also satisfied with the laboratory services. The lowest [3.02？±？1.36] and highest [3.78？±？1.03] rate of satisfaction were found on critical value notification and timely test results for HIV/AIDS patients care respectively.The overall degree of customers’ satisfaction with laboratory services was high. But there were some services such as the cleanness of latrines, information given during specimen collection outside laboratory and critical value notification which need attention. Therefore, the hospital administrations and the laboratory departments should work harder and closely to solve the identified problems. Further study with a larger sample size and more factors is recommended.Clinical laboratories are part of the health institution team which produces important information for the patients’ care [1,2]. Laboratory services are given in all health institutions, except in health posts [3].The problems related to clinical laboratory are aggravated particularly at peripheral level due to lack of properly designed laboratory rooms, shortage of short term and long term training for laboratory staff, lack of water and electricity, shortage of equipment and supplies, absence of effective maintenance and spare parts and lack of follow-up and supervision [3-5].The satisfaction of customers is measured to identify pro