Patient-reported areas for quality improvement in general practice: a cross-sectional survey.
BACKGROUND
GPs are often a patient's first point of contact with the health system. The increasing demands imposed on GPs may have an impact on the quality of care delivered. Patients are well placed to make judgements about aspects of care that need to be improved.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether general practice patients perceive that the care they receive is 'patient-centred' across eight domains of care, and to determine the association between sociodemographic, GP and practice characteristics, detection of preventive health risks, and receipt of patient-centred care.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey of patients attending Australian general practice clinics.


METHODS
Patients completed a touchscreen survey in the waiting room to rate the care received from their GP across eight domains of patient-centred care. Patients also completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and self-reported health risk factors. GPs completed a checklist for each patient asking about the presence of health risk factors.


RESULTS
In total 1486 patients and 51 GPs participated. Overall, 83% of patients perceived that the care they received was patient-centred across all eight domains. Patients most frequently perceived the 'access to health care when needed' domain as requiring improvement (8.3%). Not having private health insurance and attending a practice located in a disadvantaged area were significantly associated with perceived need for improvements in care (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients in general practice report that accessibility is an aspect of care that could be improved. Further investigation of how indicators of lower socioeconomic status interact with the provision of patient-centred care and health outcomes is required.
Health Behaviour Research Group, Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Amy
A
Waller
Health Behaviour Research Group, Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Mariko
M
Carey
Department of General Practice, School of Primary Health Care, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
Danielle
D
Mazza
Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Serene
S
Yoong
Health Behaviour Research Group, Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Alice
A
Grady
Health Behaviour Research Group, Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Rob
R
Sanson-Fisher
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000592:standards*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000639:trends*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
general practice; patient care; primary health care; quality of health care