title: Patient Experience in Health Center Medical Homes.
abstract: The Human Resource and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care Health Center program was developed to provide comprehensive, community-based quality primary care services, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of medically underserved populations. Health Centers have been leaders in adopting innovative approaches to improve quality care delivery, including the patient centered medical home (PCMH) model. Engaging patients through patient experience assessment is an important component of PCMH evaluation and a vital activity that can help drive patient-centered quality improvement initiatives. A total of 488 patients from five Health Center PCMHs in south Florida were surveyed in order to improve understanding of patient experience in Health Center PCMHs and to identify quality improvement opportunities. Overall patients reported very positive experience with patient-centeredness including being treated with courtesy and respect (85 % responded "always") and communication with their provider in a way that was easy to understand (87.7 % responded "always"). Opportunities for improvement included patient goal setting, referrals for patients with health conditions to workshops or educational programs, contact with the Health Center via phone and appointment availability. After adjusting for patient characteristics, results suggest that some patient experience components may be modified by educational attainment, years of care and race/ethnicity of patients. Findings are useful for informing quality improvement initiatives that, in conjunction with other patient engagement strategies, support Health Centers' ongoing transformation as PCMHs.
authors.affiliation: Master of Public Health Program, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, 3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33328, USA. nicole.cook@nova.edu.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Master of Public Health Program, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, 3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33328, USA.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hollar
authors.affiliation: Broward Community and Family Health Centers, 5010 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 100-B, Hollywood, FL, 33201, USA.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isaac
authors.affiliation: Health Choice Network of Florida, 9064 NW 13th Terrace, Miami, FL, 33172, USA.
authors.forename: Ludmilla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Health Choice Network of Florida, 9064 NW 13th Terrace, Miami, FL, 33172, USA.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amofah
authors.affiliation: Health Policy and Health Services Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Hampton House, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Leiyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D064876:Safety-net Providers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Federally qualified health center; Patient centered medical home; Patient experience; Quality improvement; Underserved populations