Evaluating health plan quality 2: survey design principles for measuring health plan quality.
OBJECTIVE
To develop principles for measuring the quality of specific health plans from a physician's perspective.


METHODS
Literature review, expert review, cognitive interviews.


METHODS
We did a literature review on the use of physician surveys about managed care to determine the contributions and weaknesses of those surveys. Then, an expert review of prior survey efforts to measure health plan quality from the physician's perspective was performed.


RESULTS
A survey instrument based on a conceptual model of health plan quality was developed. Its purpose was to measure health plan quality from the physician's perspective. Principles for surveying physicians guided the structure of the survey.


CONCLUSIONS
Survey instruments can be designed to take into account a physician's unique perspective on health plan quality and can include measures that control for potential biases such as anti-managed care bias.
Wholey
Douglas R
DR
Division of Health Services Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn 55455, USA. whole001@umn.edu
Christianson
Jon B
JB
Finch
Michael
M
Knutson
David
D
Rockwood
Todd
T
Warrick
Louise
L
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D008330:Management Audit / Q000379:methods; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States