title: Patients' experience of Chinese Medicine Primary Care Services: Implications on Improving Coordination and Continuity of Care.
abstract: Chinese medicine (CM) is major form of traditional and complementary medicine used by Chinese populations. Evaluation on patients' experience on CM service is essential for improving service quality. This cross sectional study aims (i) to assess how CM clinics with different administrative model differ in terms of quality from patients' perspective; and (ii) to investigate how quality varies with patients' demographic and health characteristics. Five hundred and sixteen patients were sampled from charity and semi-public CM clinics in Hong Kong, and were invited to assess their experience using the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT). Results indicated that overall mean PCAT scoring is satisfactory, achieving 70.7% (91.26/129) of total score. Ratings were lower in areas of "coordination of patient information", "continuity of care", and "range of service provided". Impact of administrative models, including involvement of tax-funded healthcare system and outreach delivery, were minimal after adjusting for patient characteristics. Demographic and health characteristics of patients did not contribute to substantial variations in scoring. To improve patient experience, policy makers should consider strengthening care coordination, continuity and comprehensiveness in CM primary care services. Sharing of electronic records and establishing referral system are potential solutions for linking CM and conventional healthcare services.
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.|Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Vincent Ch
authors.initials: VCh
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Benjamin Hk
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Sian M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Ellen Lm
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Siya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Robin St
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.|Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Xinyin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Albert Wn
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.|Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Regina Ws
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Sit
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Justin Cy
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.|Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Samuel Ys
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires