Adoption of patient-centered care practices by physicians: results from a national survey.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the extent to which primary care physicians (PCPs) practice patient-centered care, 1 of the Institute of Medicine's 6 dimensions of quality. This article describes the adoption of patient-centered practice attributes by PCPs.


METHODS
Mail survey; nationally representative physician sample of 1837 physicians in practice at least 3 years postresidency.


RESULTS
Eighty-three percent of PCPs surveyed are in favor of sharing of medical records with patients. Most physicians (87%) support team-based care. But, only 16% of PCPs communicate with their patients via e-mail; only 36% get feedback from their patients. Seventy-four percent of PCPs still experience problems with availability of patients' medical records or test results; less than 50% have adopted patient reminder systems. Thirty-three percent of physicians practicing in groups of 50 or more have adopted 6 to 11 of the 11 patient-centered care practices targeted in the survey compared with 14% of solo physicians.


CONCLUSIONS
Although some patient-centered care practices have been adopted by most PCPs, other practices have not yet been adopted as broadly, especially those targeting coordination, team-based care, and support from appropriate information systems.
Audet
Anne-Marie
AM
Quality Improvement Program, The Commonwealth Fund, New York, NY, USA. ama@cmwf.org
Davis
Karen
K
Schoenbaum
Stephen C
SC
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States