Abstract: Objective To study the application effectiveness of medical social workers in accompanying elderly patients in ophthalmology departments of public hospitals. Design Retrospective comparative case series. Participants 37 elderly ophthalmic patients receiving escort services and treceived the telephone satisfaction visits from the cataract center of Beijing Tongren Hospital as the observed group, 62 patients of the same date, doctor, and age through the hospital information system，who was traditional visiting a doctor, as the controlled group. Methods Accompanying services were provided by the medical social workers and volunteers for the elderly ophthalmic patients in the observed group; the patients in the controlled group saw a doctor by themselves. Artificial intelligence (AI) robots were used to process the telephone follow-up to assess the satisfaction of the patients in the two groups. Likert scale was used to conduct a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire involves 4 dimensions (six questions): medical procedures, medical ethics, medical quality and service time. Each dimension was rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Satisfied 5 points, more satisfied 4 points, generally 3 points, less satisfied 2 points, dissatisfied 1 point. Main Outcome Measures Satisfaction score. Results The score of the process smoothness of the observed group was 4.94±0.19, which significantly increased compared with that of the controlled group (4.43±0.88) (t=-4.431，P<0.01); the score of satisfaction with waiting time was 4.74±0.58, which significantly increased compared with that of the controlled group (4.05±1.19) (t=-3.916，P<0.01); and the score of overall satisfaction with the medical visit was 4.84±0.13, which significantly increased compared with that of the controlled group (4.57±0.41) (t=-4.789，P<0.01). There were no significant differences in the scores of doctors' treatment level satisfaction, doctors' attitude satisfaction, nurses' service satisfaction and other personnel satisfaction between the two groups (all P>0.05). The linear regression results showed that observed group patients had a medical procedures satisfaction score of 0.513 points higher compared to those in the controlled group（r2=0.112，P=0.001）; a waiting time satisfaction score of 0.762 points higher compared to those in the controlled group（r2=0.192，P＜0.001）; and a overall satisfaction score of 0.290 points compared to those in the controlled group (r2=0.200，P＜0.001). Conclusion The intervention of medical social workers in the companion consultation service for elderly ophthalmic patients in the ophthalmology department can reduce the medical treatment difficulties of the elderly, shorten the medical treatment time, alleviate adverse emotions, effectively enhance the convenience and satisfaction of elderly patients in seeking medical treatment. (Ophthalmol CHN, 2025, 34: 68-71)

Key words: medical social worker, medical companion service, satisfaction