Abstract
ContextThe strategy of publicly reporting quality indicators is being widely promoted through public policies as a way to make health care delivery more efficient.ObjectiveTo assess general practitioners’ (GPs) use of the comparative hospital quality indicators made available by public services and the media, as well as GPs’ perceptions of their qualities and usefulness.MethodA telephone survey of a random sample representing all self-employed GPs in private practice in France.ResultsA large majority (84.1%–88.5%) of respondents (n = 503; response rate of 56%) reported that they never used public comparative indicators, available in the mass media or on government and non-government Internet sites, to influence their patients’ hospital choices. The vast majority of GPs rely mostly on traditional sources of information when choosing a hospital. At the same time, this study highlights favourable opinions shared by a large proportion of GPs regarding several aspects of hospital quality indicators, such as their good qualities and usefulness for other purposes. In sum, the results show that GPs make very limited use of hospital quality indicators based on a consumer choice paradigm but, at the same time, see them as useful in ways corresponding more to the usual professional paradigms, including as a means to improve quality of care.
Highlights
The strategy of publicly reporting quality indicators is being widely promoted through public policies as a way to make health care delivery more efficient
This study highlights favourable opinions shared by a large proportion of general practitioners’ (GPs) regarding several aspects of hospital quality indicators, such as their good qualities and usefulness for other purposes
The results show that GPs make very limited use of hospital quality indicators based on a consumer choice paradigm but, at the same time, see them as useful in ways corresponding more to the usual professional paradigms, including as a means to improve quality of care
Summary
In the spring of 2014, a telephone survey of a random sample representing all the general practitioners (GPs) of France was conducted. This sample was extracted from a national database that identifies all French self-employed GPs in private practice. As of January 1, 2013, this target population consisted of 54,579 GPs. An approximately 1% random sample drawn from this database was used to identify a sample of 1000—plus an extra 230—GPs based on the prediction of a 50% survey response rate. The verbal consent was registered by the research institution conducting the survey. This consent procedure was approved by an ethics approval commission. The physicians who participated in the study received monetary compensation in an amount equal that paid for a medical consultation
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