Assessment of patient's experiences across the interface between primary and secondary care: Consumer Quality Index Continuum of care.
OBJECTIVE
Development and validation of a questionnaire that measures patients' experiences of collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists.


METHODS
A questionnaire was developed using the method of the consumer quality index and validated in a cross-sectional study among a random sample of patients referred to medical specialists in the Netherlands. Validation included factor analysis, ascertain internal consistency, and the discriminative ability.


RESULTS
The response rate was 65% (1404 patients). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that four domains could be distinguished (i.e. GP Approach; GP Referral; Specialist; Collaboration). Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.51 to 0.93 indicating sufficient internal consistency to make comparison of groups of respondents possible. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the domains were <0.4, except between the domains GP Approach and GP Referral. All domains clearly produced discriminating scores for groups with different characteristics.


CONCLUSIONS
The Consumer Quality Index (CQ-index) Continuum of Care can be a useful instrument to assess aspects of the collaboration between GPs and specialists from patients' perspective.


CONCLUSIONS
It can be used to give feedback to both medical professionals and policy makers. Such feedback creates an opportunity for implementing specific improvements and evaluating quality improvement projects.
Department of General Practice, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. a.j.berendsen@med.umcg.nl
Annette J
AJ
Berendsen
Klaas H
KH
Groenier
G Majella
GM
de Jong
Betty
B
Meyboom-de Jong
Willem Jan
WJ
van der Veen
Janny
J
Dekker
Margot W M
MW
de Waal
Jan
J
Schuling
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011320:Primary Health Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017749:Total Quality Management; D055815:Young Adult