The attitude towards waiting time for goods and services, such as clinical appointments, has recently shifted from a reduction of the actual time to a reduction of the waiting time perceived by the customers, by actually filling their waiting time. However, the impact of combining waiting information and the possibility of getting out of the waiting room on the patients’ satisfaction is yet to be determined. The present pilot study uses the case of a single-doctor clinic to study this effect. Different waiting information and environment (independent variables) are tested to observe the patients’ resulting satisfaction (dependent variable). To accomplish this, the investigator conducted an experimental study on three groups of patients: with one staying in the waiting room without information on the waiting time, one staying inside with an estimation of the waiting time; and the other going outdoors and being provided with the same estimation. Stress, distractions, social interactions and perceived waiting time are also studied as mediating variables.

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