Measuring Primary Care Quality in Managed Care Systems: Developing a New211 Methodology to Measure Both Patient Satisfaction and the Structural 211 Characteristics of the Primary Care Process. Abstract, Executive Summary and 211 Final Report (Revised Nove

摘要

The purpose of this study is to test a new methodology to assess patient211u001esatisfaction with a primary care office visit. Researchers greeted patients at 211u001ethe entrance to a primary care facility and accompanied them throughout their 211u001evisit (excepting actual examination and treatment), simultaneously gathering 211u001eobservational and patient survey data. The methodology was well accepted by 211u001epatients, with a seventy-nine per cent of eligible patients agreeing to 211u001eparticipate. This method presents a feasible alternative to telephone or written 211u001esatisfaction surveys, and has the advantage of gathering both patient data and 211u001edata pertaining to structural characteristics of the visit. It was possible to 211u001edemonstrate that structural characteristics significantly affect patients' 211u001esatisfaction with care, as measured by a standard nine-item satisfaction score. 211u001eIn addition to the well known beneficial effect of continuity of care, the 211u001eauthors demonstrate that one of the most powerful determinants of patients' 211u001esatisfaction with a visit to a primary care physician is the courtesy, 211u001esensitivity, and respect with which they are treated by the non-physician staff 211u001ethey encounter.