title: Issues in assessing satisfaction: findings of the arkansas medicaid family planning demonstration waiver evaluation.
abstract: Arkansas was one of the first states to expand family planning services under its state Medicaid plan through a Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver. In addition to an assessment of other outcome measures, evaluators used exit interviews, which had been designed to reduce courtesy bias, to assess client satisfaction with family planning services available under the waiver in public health units. Client satisfaction with family planning services can serve as a simple measure of one dimension of perceived quality of care. Findings indicate overall client satisfaction with family planning services. However, noted methodological issues may limit the generalizability of these findings. Potential corrective measures are suggested for improving client satisfaction with family planning services and for increasing the utility of survey instrument utilized in this effort.
authors.affiliation: Office of Community-Based Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. hcfelix@uams.edu
authors.forename: Holly C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: H Al
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.forename: Jinger
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: M Kathryn
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001131:Arkansas; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors