Abstract
BackgroundMany countries, including China, have identified the primary health care system as a reform priority. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceived service capacity of primary care from the perspectives of physicians and their patients in Sichuan province of China.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted through Quality and Costs of Primary Care (QUALICOPC) questionnaires. A representative sample of 319 primary care physicians and 641 patients in 48 primary healthcare settings were recruited to take part in the study.ResultsPhysicians perceived equity of care the best, while quality of care was rated the highest from the perspective of patients. They both regarded coordination as the weakest dimension of primary care service capacity.ConclusionsAlthough primary health care reform may have been effective in helping patients acquire better primary care services, our results suggest that coordination is still perceived to be problematic for both physicians and patients. Improving the coordination of care has to be one of the main goals in the future primary care reforms in China.
Highlights
Many countries, including China, have identified the primary health care system as a reform priority
Half of the physicians worked in general practice, the rest in traditional Chinese medicine and other specialties
This study provided an evaluation of the service capacity of primary health care in one province in China using the QUALICOPC protocol
Summary
Many countries, including China, have identified the primary health care system as a reform priority. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceived service capacity of primary care from the perspectives of physicians and their patients in Sichuan province of China. Results: Physicians perceived equity of care the best, while quality of care was rated the highest from the perspective of patients. They both regarded coordination as the weakest dimension of primary care service capacity. Many countries have identified the primary health care system as a priority for reform [1,2,3]. There is a pressing need to comprehensively evaluate the impact of the 2009 reform on primary health care services in China
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