Leong Scholar speaks to predictors of patient satisfaction in Ontario

Emily Hamovitch, second year PhD student at IHPME and Leong Scholar, recently presented a poster titled “Predictors of Patient Satisfaction with Primary Care for People Living with Chronic Conditions” at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research conference. She provides a summary of her poster presentation.

While collecting and reporting on patients' experiences and outcomes is increasingly integrated into acute care, most healthcare services are provided in primary care. Capturing what matters to people regarding their health experiences and outcomes in primary care is essential. The Patient-Reported Indicators Survey (PaRIS), is an initiative by the OECD where countries work together on developing, standardizing and implementing a new generation of indicators that measure the outcomes and experiences of healthcare that matter most to people. The survey aims to provide insight into the quality and outcomes of specifically of primary care in Ontario as perceived by people living with chronic conditions. You can read more about the PaRIS survey here.  Using data from the PaRIS pilot study in Ontario, this research aims to answer the question “Which patient-level and practice-level characteristics are significantly associated with satisfaction of health care?”

The survey was disseminated to participants aged 45 years who visited their primary care provider in Ontario, in the past 6 months, and their providers. Patients were recruited from 16 practices throughout Ontario.

Findings demonstrate that referral letters to specialists in paper form may enhance satisfaction with care. Patients who experience financial stress and are in poor health had significantly lower satisfaction with care. Therefore, additional supports within primary care are needed for this population. Furthermore, patients who had appointments that took place shortly after booking the appointment reported significantly higher satisfaction with care compared to those whose appointments took place more than one month later. The timing of appointments is therefore important, and policies that enable patients to be seen in a timely way may enhance the patient experience.

As a next step, the PaRIS survey will be implemented in 10 provinces within Canada and internationally. Results will show how key outcomes and experiences vary across and within countries and enable policymakers to learn from the approaches of others to improve the performance of primary care services for people living with chronic conditions.

View her poster presentation here.