Annals of emergency medicine
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To determine the effects of actual waiting time, perception of waiting time, information delivery, and expressive quality on patient satisfaction. ⋯ Perceptions regarding waiting time, information delivery, and expressive quality predict overall patient satisfaction, but actual waiting times do not. Providing information, projecting expressive quality, and managing waiting time perceptions and expectations may be a more effective strategy to achieve improved patient satisfaction in the ED than decreasing actual waiting time.