title: Creating the Individual Scope of Practice (I-SOP) scale.
abstract: Research indicates that the scope of practice for primary care physicians has been shrinking (Tong, Makaroff, Xierali, Parhat, Puffer, Newton, et al., 2012; Xierali, Puffer, Tong, Bazemore, and Green, 2012; and Bazemore, Makaroff, Puffer, Parhat, Phillips, Xierali, et al., 2012) despite research showing that areas with robust primary care services have better population health outcomes at lower costs (Starfield, Shi, and Macinko, 2005). Examining issues related to the scope of practice for primary care physicians has wide-ranging implications for both patient health outcomes and related healthcare costs. This article describes the development and use of a scale intended to measure the breath of the individual physician's scope of practice using 22 self-reported, dichotomous indicators obtained from a physician survey.
authors.affiliation: American Board of Family Medicine, 1648 McGrathiana Pkwy., Ste. 550, Lexington, KY 40511, USA, toneill@theabfm.org.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Peabody
authors.forename: Brenna E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Blackburn
authors.forename: Lars E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States