Evaluation of specialists'' outreach clinics in general practice in England: process and acceptability to patients, specialists, and general practitioners.

OBJECTIVES: The wider study aimed to evaluate specialists' outreach clinics in relation to their costs, processes, and effectiveness, including patients' and professionals' attitudes. The data on processes and attitudes are presented here. DESIGN: Self administered questionnaires were drawn up for patients, their general practitioners (GPs) and specialists, and managers in the practice. Information was sought from hospital trusts. The study formed a pilot phase prior to a wider evaluation. SETTING: Nine outreach clinics in general practices in England, each with a hospital outpatient department as a control clinic were studied. SUBJECTS: The specialties included were ear, nose, and throat surgery; rheumatology; and gynaecology. The subjects were the patients who attended either the outreach clinics or hospital outpatients clinics during the study period, the outreach patients' GPs, the outreach patients' and outpatients' specialists, the managers in the practices, and the NHS trusts which employed the specialists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Process items included waiting lists, waiting times in clinics, number of follow up visits, investigations and procedures performed, treatment, health status, patients' and specialists' travelling times, and patients' and doctors' attitudes to, and satisfaction with, the clinic. RESULTS: There was no difference in the health status of patients in relation to the clinic site (ie, outreach and hospital outpatients' clinics) at baseline, and all but one of the specialists said there were no differences in casemix between their outreach and outpatients' clinics. Patients preferred, and were more satisfied with, care in specialists' outreach clinics in general practice, in comparison with outpatients' clinics. The outreach clinics were rated as more convenient than outpatients' clinics in relation to journey times; those outreach patients in work lost less time away from work than outpatients' clinic patients due to the clinic attendance. Length of time on the waiting list was significantly reduced for gynaecology patients; waiting times in clinics were lower for outreach patients than outpatients across all specialties. In addition, outreach patients were more likely to be first rather than follow up attenders; rheumatology outreach patients were more likely than hospital outpatients to receive therapy. GPs' referrals to hospital outpatients' clinics were greatly reduced by the availability of outreach clinics. Both specialists and GPs saw the main advantages of outreach clinics in relation to the greater convenience and better access to care for patients. Few of the specialists and GPs in the outreach practices held formal training and education sessions in the outreach clinic, although over half of the GPs felt that their skills/expertise had broadened as a result of the outreach clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The processes of care (waiting times, patient satisfaction, convenience to patients, follow up attendances) were better in outreach than in outpatients' clinics. However, waiting lists were only significantly reduced for gynaecology patients, despite both GPs and consultants reporting reduced waiting lists for patients as one of the main advantages of outreach. Whether these improvements merit the increased cost to the specialists (in terms of their increased travelling times and time spent away from their hospital base) and whether the development of what is, in effect, two standards of care between practices with and without outreach can be stemmed and the standard of care raised in all practices (eg, by sharing outreach clinics between GPs in an area) remain the subject of debate. As the data were based on the pilot study, the results should be viewed with some caution, although statistical power was adequate for comparisons of sites if not specialties.     

Evaluation of outreach clinics held by specialists in general practice in England

OBJECTIVES: To measure the processes of care, health benefits and costs of outreach clinics held by hospital specialists in primary care settings. DESIGN: The study was designed as a case-referent (comparative) study in which the features of 19 outreach clinics (cases) were compared with matched outpatient clinics (controls). The measuring instruments were self administered questionnaires. Patients were followed up at six months to reassess health status. The specialties included in the study were cardiology, ENT, general medicine, general surgery, gynaecology and rheumatology. SETTING: Specialist outreach clinics in general practice in England, with matched outpatient clinic controls. SUBJECTS: Consecutive patient attenders in the outreach and outpatient clinics, their specialists, the outreach patients' general practitioners, practice managers and trust accountants. Patients' response rate at baseline: 78% (1420). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient satisfaction, doctors' attitudes, processes and health outcomes, costs. RESULTS: Outreach patients were more satisfied with the processes of their care than outpatients, their access to specialist care was better than that for outpatients and they were more likely to be discharged. Doctors reported that the main advantages of the outreach clinic were improved patient access to specialists and convenience for patients, in comparison with outpatients, and most GPs and specialists felt the outreach clinic was "worthwhile". At six month follow up, the health status of the outreach sample had significantly improved more than that of the outpatients on all eight sub-scales of the HSQ-12, but this was probably because of their better starting point at baseline. The impact of outreach on health outcomes was small. The NHS costs of outreach were significantly higher than outpatients. An increase in outreach clinic size would reduce cost per patient, but would lead to the loss of most of the clinics' benefits. CONCLUSIONS: While the process of care was of higher quality in outreach than in outpatients, and the efficiency of care was also greater in the latter, the effect on patients' health outcomes was small. Responsiveness to patients' views and preferences is an essential component of good quality service provision. However, the greater cost of outreach raises the issue of whether improvements in the quality and efficiency of health care, without a substantial impact on health outcomes, is money well spent in a publicly funded health service. On the other hand, the real costs of outreach in comparison with outpatients clinics can probably only be truly estimated in a longitudinal study with a resource based costing model derived from documented patient attendances and treatment costs over time in relation to longer term outcome (for example, at a two year end point).     

Healthcare in the New Vietnam: comparing patients' satisfaction with outpatient care in a traditional neighborhood clinic and a new, western-style clinic in Ho Chi Minh City

As Vietnam opens its economy to privatization, its system of healthcare will face a series of crucial tests. Vietnam's system of private healthcare--once comprised only of individual physicians holding clinic hours in their homes--has come to also include larger customer-oriented clinics based on an American business model. As the two models compete in the expanding private market, it becomes increasingly important to understand patients' perceptions of the alternative models of care. This study reports on interviews with 194 patients in two different types of private-sector clinics in Vietnam: a western-style clinic and a traditional style, after-hours clinic. In bivariate and multivariate analyses, we found that patients at the western style clinic reported both higher expectations of the facility and higher satisfaction with many aspects of care than patients at the after-hours clinic. These different perceptions appear to be based on the interpersonal manner of the physician seen and the clinic's delivery methods rather than perceptions of the physician's technical skill and method of treatment. These findings were unaffected by the ethnicity of physician seen. These findings suggest that patients in Vietnam recognize and prefer more customer-oriented care and amenities, regardless of physician ethnicity and perceive no significant differences in technical skill between the private delivery models.     

Practice features associated with patient-reported accessibility, continuity, and coordination of primary health care

PURPOSE On the eve of major primary health care reforms, we conducted a multilevel survey of primary health care clinics to identify attributes of clinic organization and physician practice that predict accessibility, continuity, and coordination of care as experienced by patients.METHODS Primary health care clinics were selected by stratified random sampling in urban, suburban, rural, and remote locations in Quebec, Canada. Up to 4 family or general physicians were selected in each clinic, and 20 patients seeing each physician used the Primary Care Assessment Tool to report on first-contact accessibility (being able to obtain care promptly for sudden illness), relational continuity (having an ongoing relationship with a physician who knew their particulars), and coordination continuity (having coordination between their physician and specialists). Physicians reported on aspects of their practice, and secretaries and directors reported on organizational features of the clinic. We used hierarchical regression modeling on the subsample of regular patients at the clinic.RESULTS One hundred clinics participated (61% response rate), for a total of 221 physicians and 2,725 regular patients (87% response and completion rate). First-contact accessibility was most problematic. Such accessibility was better in clinics with 10 or fewer physicians, a nurse, telephone access 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, operational agreements to facilitate care with other health care establishments, and evening walk-in services. Operational agreements and evening care also positively affected relational continuity. Physicians who valued continuity and felt attached to the community fostered better relational continuity, whereas an accessibility-oriented style (as indicated by a high proportion of walk-in care and high patient volume) hindered it. Coordination continuity was also associated with more operational agreements and continuous telephone access, and was better when physicians practiced part time in hospitals and performed a larger range of medical procedures in their office.CONCLUSIONS The way a clinic is organized allows physicians to achieve both accessibility and continuity rather than one or the other. Features that achieve both are offering care in the evenings and access to telephone advice, and having operational agreements with other health care establishments.     

Family planning clinic patients: their usual health care providers, insurance status, and implications for managed care.

PURPOSE: To understand the extent to which family planning clinic patients have health insurance or access to other health care providers, as well as their preferences for clinic versus private reproductive medical care. METHOD: An anonymous self-report questionnaire was administered at three Planned Parenthood clinics in Los Angeles County to 780 female patients aged 12-49 years. Dependent variables included insurance status, usual source of care, and a battery of questions regarding the importance of confidentiality. RESULTS: A total of 356 adolescents (aged 12-19 years) and 424 adults (aged 20-49 years) completed the survey in 1994. Fifty-nine percent of adolescents and 53% of adults had a usual source of care other than the clinic. The majority of each group reported some degree of continuity of care in their usual provider setting. Nearly half (49%) of all adolescents had health insurance compared with 27% of adults. Adolescents cited not wanting to involve family members as the primary reason for not using their usual providers, whereas adults were more likely to cite being uninsured. The majority of both adult and adolescent patients indicate they would prefer the clinic over private health care if guaranteed health care that was free, confidential, or both. CONCLUSION: Despite many patients' having health insurance and other sources of health care, family planning clinics were primarily chosen because of cost and confidentiality. Their reasons for preferring clinics may continue despite changes in access to insurance or efforts to incorporate similar reproductive services into mainstream health care provider systems. Making public or private health care funds available to family planning clinics through contracts or other mechanisms may facilitate patients' access to essential services and reduce potential service duplication.     

Evaluation of the use of rural health clinics: attitudes and behaviors of primary care physicians in service areas of nurse practitioner clinics.

In response to concerns of the directors of Rural Health Initiative projects in Mississippi, a study was conducted to examine factors related to use of rural health clinics. This report focuses on attitudes and behaviors of primary care physicians in the service areas of four clinics staffed by nurse practitioners. Data for this evaluation were obtained via mail questionnaires sent to 41 primary care physicians in the service areas of the clinics. Usable responses were received from 25 (61.0 percent) of the physicians. The data indicate that a majority of these physicians approve of the nurse practitioner concept. Although there is evidence to support a positive correlation between previous experience and knowledge concerning nurse practitioners and physician acceptance of the nurse practitioner concept, only about half of the physicians reported that anyone had ever contacted them to talk about the clinic. Only about a quarter of the physicians had ever visited the rural health clinic, but 60 percent indicated that they would like to do so. These findings indicate a need to develop closer working relationships with all primary care physicians in the service area of a rural health clinic. The data indicate that when such a closer relationship existed, physicians were satisfied with the outcome of interactions. Twelve (48 percent) physicians stated that they had patient(s) referred to them by the clinic. Among these physicians 77.8 percent were satisfied with the information that they had received on the patient''s condition. Fewer physicians (8 or 32.0 percent) reported that they had received a call from the nurse practitioner clinic to consult about one of the physician''s patients. The physicians were satisfied with the outcome of the consultation in each instance that was reported.     

Measuring service quality at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Evaluates the service quality of four clinics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center using a questionnaire methodology. The SERVQUAL instrument was administered to patients of the Medical Breast, Leukemia, Medical Gastroenterology and Bone Marrow Aspiration clinics. Results show that, according to the service gap methodology of comparing expectations and perceptions, across all four clinics the issues of billing accuracy and waiting times are deemed by patients as significant problems. In comparing the individual clinics, the Medical Gastroenterology and Leukemia clinics are best performers and the Medical Breast clinic is the worst. However, these differences in performance are due to differences in patients' expectations of service quality, rather than differences in perceptions. Concludes that customer expectations can have a strong impact on a firm's evaluation of its service quality.     

How do small rural primary health care services sustain themselves in a constantly changing health system environment?

Background

Services for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) have evolved with the development of independently led outreach Rheumatology Practitioner (RP) clinics in Primary Care (PC). Their clinical and cost effectiveness, compared with Secondary Care (SC) services, has not been assessed. The RECIPROCATE study aims to evaluate their clinical and cost effectiveness. This part of the study aimed to explore health professionals?? opinions of rheumatology outreach service.

Methods

Using a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs, practice nurses, hospital doctors and RPs, from one hospital and seven PC practices in Norfolk, to elicit their opinions of the service. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

All participants agreed the service was supportive and valuable providing high quality personalised care, disease management, social, and educational support. Advantages identified included convenience, continuity of care and proximity of services to home. RPs helped bridge the communication gap between PC and SC. Some participants suggested having a doctor alongside RPs. The service was considered to be cost effective for patients but there was uncertainty about cost effectiveness for service providers. Few disadvantages were identified the most recurring being the lack of other onsite services when needed. It was noted that more services could be provided by RPs such as prescribing and joint injections as well as playing a more active role in knowledge transfer to PC.

Conclusions

Professionals involved in the care of RA patients recognised the valuable role of the RP outreach clinics. This service can be further developed in rheumatology and the example can be replicated for other chronic conditions.     

Patients'' satisfaction with care after stroke: relation with characteristics of patients and care.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate stroke patients' satisfaction with care received and to identify characteristics of patients and care which are associated with patients' dissatisfaction. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. SETTING: Sample of patients who participated in a multicentre study on quality of care in 23 hospitals in the Netherlands. PATIENTS: 327 non-institutionalised patients who had been in hospital six months before because of stroke. MAIN MEASURES: Data were collected on (a) characteristics of patients: socio-demographic status, cognitive function (mini mental state examination), disability (Barthel index), handicap (Rankin scale), emotional distress (emotional behavior subscale of the sickness impact profile) and health perception; (b) characteristics of care: use of various types of formal care after stroke, unmet care demands perceived by patients, unmet care demands confirmed by their general practitioners, continuity of care, and secondary prevention, and (c) patients' satisfaction with care received. RESULTS: 40% of the study sample were dissatisfied with at least one type of care received. Multivariate analyses showed that unmet care demands perceived by patients (odds ratio (OR) 3.2, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.8-5.7) and emotional distress (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.0) were the main variable associated with dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' satisfaction was primarily associated with emotional distress and unmet care demands perceived by patients. No association was found between patients' satisfaction on the one hand and continuity of care or secondary prevention on the other; two care characteristics that are broadly accepted by professional care givers as important indicators of quality of long term care after stroke. IMPLICATIONS: In view of these findings discussion should take place about the relative weight that should be given to patients' satisfaction as an indicator of quality of care, compared with other quality indicators such as continuity of care and technical competence. More research is needed to find which dimensions of quality care are considered the most important by stroke patients and professional care givers.     

Comparison of patients' and general practitioners' evaluations of general practice care

Objectives: To compare patients' and general practitioners' (GPs') evaluations of the quality of general practice care.

Design: Written surveys among patients and GPs.

Setting: General practice in the Netherlands.

Subjects: 1772 patients (from 45 GPs) and a random sample of 315 GPs.

Main outcome measures: Patients' and GPs' evaluations of 23 aspects of general practice care and GPs' perceptions of patients' evaluations using a 5 point scale.

Results: The response rate was 88% in the patient sample and 63% in the GP sample. The patients' ratings of care were significantly more positive (mean 4.0) than those of the GPs (mean 3.7) as well as GPs' perceptions of patients' evaluations (mean 3.5) (p<0.001). The overall rank order correlations between the patients' evaluations, GPs' evaluations, and GPs' perceptions of the patients' evaluations were 0.75 or higher (p<0.001). Patients and practitioners gave the most positive evaluations of specific aspects of the doctor-patient relationship ("keeping patients' records and data confidential", "listening to patients", and "making patients feel they had enough time during consultations") and aspects of the organisation of care ("provide quick service for urgent health problems" and "helpfulness of the staff (other than the doctor)"). The aspects of care evaluated least positively by patients as well as by GPs were other organisational aspects ("preparing patients for what to expect from specialist or hospital care" and "getting through to practice on the telephone").

Conclusions: GPs and patients have to some extent a shared perspective on general practice care. However, GPs were more critical about the quality of care than patients and they underestimated how positive patients were about the care they provide. Furthermore, specific aspects of care were evaluated differently, so surveys and other consultations with patients are necessary to integrate their perspective into quality improvement activities.

     

A cost-effectiveness analysis of three staffing models for the delivery of low-risk prenatal care.

BACKGROUND. Health care costs are increasing at more than twice the rate of inflation, thus, public officials are seeking safe and economic methods to deliver quality prenatal care to poor pregnant women. This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between the cost and effectiveness of three prenatal clinic staffing models: physician based, mixed staffing, and clinical nurse specialist with physicians available for consultation. METHODS. Maternal and neonatal physiological outcome data were obtained from the hospital clinical records of 156 women attending these clinics. The women were then interviewed concerning their satisfaction with their prenatal care clinic. The financial officer from each clinic provided data on the clinic staffing costs and hours of service. RESULTS. There were no differences in outcomes for the maternal-neonatal physiological variables, although newborn admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) approached significance among the clinics. The clinic staffed by clinical nurse specialists had the greatest client satisfaction and the lowest cost per visit. CONCLUSIONS. The use of clinical nurse specialists might substantially reduce the cost of providing prenatal care while maintaining quality, and might thereby save valuable resources.     

Walk-in clinics: patient expectations and family physician availability

BACKGROUND: For over two decades, there has been controversy over the role and impact of walk-in clinics on primary health care. This study evaluates the providers' perspective on this topic. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of family physicians, emergency physicians and walk-in clinic physicians regarding the impact of walk-in clinics on Ontario's health care system. METHODS: The qualitative method of focus groups was used in this study. There were nine focus groups, each consisting of 4-9 participants, with a total of 63 physicians. The different practitioners (family physicians, emergency physicians, walk-in clinic physicians) attended separate focus groups. The focus groups explored the physicians' perceptions and experiences regarding the role and impact of walk-in clinics on Ontario's health care system. The focus groups were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The qualitative data analysis program NUD*IST was used to organize the data during the sequential thematic analysis. RESULTS: Factors contributing to the growth and evolution of walk-in clinics in Ontario were identified. These included a perceived increase in patients' expectations for convenient health care and a perceived decrease in the availability of family physicians. These factors created a gap in primary care which was filled by walk-in clinics. CONCLUSIONS: Participants' recommendations for narrowing this gap included an increase in both physician and patient accountability and changes to the current structure of primary health care delivery. These recommendations would either integrate walk-in clinics into the health care system or result in their elimination.     

Primary care in an underserved rural area: the Goodlark experience in Middle Tennessee

With the assistance of Federal funding and three National Health Service Corps physicians, the Goodlark Rural Health Care System was established during the first 8 months of 1979 in a four-county, medically underserved area of Middle Tennessee. Four primary care clinics and a health screening and weight reduction clinic were initiated, and efforts were made to make the clinics responsive to community needs and complementary to existing area resources.A study of the results of these efforts through December 1981 showed that community acceptance, measured by patients' use of the clinics and satisfaction with the services provided, was generally high; however, one of the small primary care clinics was closed after 1 year because of a continuing decline in patient visits. Many patients continued to follow former patterns of reliance on larger centers for specialized care (and occasionally primary care), using the Goodlark clinics primarily for convenience.The primary care clinic that provided the most comprehensive services and that represented an expansion of an area physician's family practice showed a continuing increase in the number of new- and return-patient visits during the period of the study. Indeed, this clinic generated revenue sufficient to support the remaining clinics in the system, allowing Federal funding to be discontinued. The health screening and weight reduction clinic, however, met with poor community response.Acceptance of nurse practitioners by patients of the primary care clinics was high, and the Goodlark experience suggests that these practitioners may be the most cost-effective providers of primary care in more sparsely populated areas.Innovations in health planning must take into consideration local community factors and previous patterns of health care in order to complement existing health resources. Findings with respect to the Goodlark experience may be worthy of consideration by health planners in other localities.     

Telehealth consultations in rheumatology: cost-effectiveness and user satisfaction

We conducted a feasibility study to assess user satisfaction with and the cost-effectiveness of a rheumatology telehealth clinic in northern Alberta. Six telehealth clinics were organized between a rural health centre and the specialist rheumatology centre, which was about a 4 h drive away. Fifty-two new patients were seen. Their median age was 54 years (range 7-81 years). After the teleconsultation, no patient required a conventional face-to-face consultation. Overall, patients agreed that the teleconsultation met their needs and that the care they received was as good as conventional care. The physicians involved in the study thought the process practical and effective. The total costs of service delivery would be equal for teleconsultation and for traditional consultation at a workload of 247 consultations a year.     

Patient perception of quality following a visit to a doctor in a primary care unit

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the quality of primary care services may be enhanced by including patient perceptions as well as professional judgment of quality. There is a need for reliable and valid instruments to measure these perceptions. OBJECTIVES: (i) To present a scale for measuring patient perception of quality of care following a visit to a doctor; and (ii) to analyse the responses given by patients recruited in primary care units in the Montreal region. The scale is composed of 22 items regrouped into three sub-scales referring to the patient-physician relationship (five items); the technical aspects of care (12 items); and the outcomes of the visit (five items). Distinctive features of the scale are that it focuses on patients' opinions about quality rather than on satisfaction, and that it includes items related to outcomes of the visit. METHODS: A survey was conducted on 473 patients who visited a physician in 11 primary care units in the Montreal region. Randomly selected patients received mailed questionnaires 5-7 days following their visit. Various statistical procedures were used to assess the reliability and the validity of the global scale and the sub-scales, and to analyse patients' patterns of response. RESULTS: The analysis of the psychometric properties of the global scale and the three sub-scales provides favourable evidence concerning their reliability and validity. The results of the factor analysis, the inter-item correlations and the Cronbach's alpha coefficients all support the distinction made between the interpersonal processes, the technical processes and the outcomes, and, at the same time, confirm the complex nature of the notion of perceived quality. The analysis of patients' responses allows the identification of items associated with global perception about quality of care. This global perception results from patients' perception of the physician's professional and interpersonal skills as well as from the outcomes of care. CONCLUSION: The scale can be used by physicians or primary health care units and has a wide range of applications.     

Acuity-based nurse assignment and patient scheduling in oncology clinics

The oncology clinics use different nursing care delivery models to provide chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients. Functional and primary care delivery models are the most commonly used methods in the clinics. In functional care delivery model, patients are scheduled for a chemotherapy appointment without considering availabilities of individual nurses, and nurses are assigned to patients according to patient acuities, nursing skill, and patient mix on a given day after the appointment schedule is determined. Patients might be treated by different nurses on different days of their treatment. In primary care delivery model, each patient is assigned to a primary nurse, and the patients are scheduled to be seen by the same nurse every time they come to the clinic for treatment. However, these clinics might experience high variability in daily nurse workload due to treatment protocols that should be followed strictly. In that case, part-time nurses can be utilized to share the excess workload of the primary nurses. The aim of this study is to develop optimization methods to reduce the time spent for nurse assignment and patient scheduling in oncology clinics that use different nursing care delivery models. For the functional delivery model, a multiobjective optimization model with the objectives of minimizing patient waiting times and nurse overtime is proposed to solve the nurse assignment problem. For the primary care delivery model, another multiobjective optimization model with the objectives of minimizing total overtime and total excess workload is proposed to solve the patient scheduling problem. Spreadsheet-based optimization tools are developed for easy implementation. Computational results show that the proposed models provide multiple nondominated solutions, which can be used to determine the optimal staffing levels.     

Racial and ethnic disparities in perceptions of physician style and trust

CONTEXT: While pervasive racial and ethnic inequalities in access to care and health status have been documented, potential underlying causes, such as patients' perceptions of their physicians, have not been explored as thoroughly. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a person's race or ethnicity is associated with low trust in the physician. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were obtained from the 1996 through 1997 Community Tracking Survey, a nationally representative sample. Adults who identified a physician as their regular provider and had at least 1 physician visit in the preceding 12 months were included (N = 32,929). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Patients' ratings of their satisfaction with the style of their physician and their trust in physicians. The Satisfaction With Physician Style Scale measured respondents' perceptions of their physicians' listening skills, explanations, and thoroughness. The Trust in Physician Scale measured respondents' perceptions that their physicians placed the patients' needs above other considerations, referred the patient when needed, performed unnecessary tests or procedures, and were influenced by insurance rules. RESULTS: After adjustment for socioeconomic and other factors, minority group members reported less positive perceptions of physicians than whites on these 2 conceptually distinct scales. Minority group members who lacked physician continuity on repeat clinic visits reported even less positive perceptions of their physicians on these 2 scales than whites. CONCLUSIONS: Patients from racial and ethnic minority groups have less positive perceptions of their physicians on at least 2 important dimensions. The reasons for these differences should be explored and addressed. Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:1156-1163     

ARHP launches Depo-Provera education program

The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP) has available a multimedia educational program informing physicians, nurse practitioners, clinical staff, and patients about Depo-Provera. It is called "New Developments in Contraception: Depo-Provera". The Upjohn company partially funded the program. It consists of 4 videotapes, 2 brochures, and a reference book on clinical proceedings. "DMPA: A New Contraceptive Option" is an 18-minute videotape giving an overview of Depo-Provera for physicians and nurse practitioners. It addresses pharmokinetics, efficacy, safety, side effects, patient selection, administration, and medical management of medroxyprogesterone acetate. "DMPA: Patient Counseling and Clinical Staff Procedures" is a 15-minute video including patient counseling scenarios and discussion of usual patient questions. Clients can view the "Choosing a Birth Control Method" video to get a balanced overview of 5 reversible contraceptives. It provides graphics, discussions between patients and providers, and patients' comments on their experiences with the various methods. The fourth video is a Spanish language version of the "Choosing a Birth Control Method" video. One brochure complements the "Choosing a Birth control Method" video; the other one "Questions and Answers About Birth Control Shots", centers on Depo-Provera. ARHP plans to distribute 55,000 copies of its multimedia educational program to health care professionals and to family planning and Planned Parenthood clinics in the US. This program advances and rounds out ARHP'S National Program to Prevent Unintended Pregnancy.     

"This clinic is number one": a qualitative study of factors that contribute toward "successful" care at a South African Pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic

HIV/AIDS has significantly affected health care practices. The need for high adherence and regular clinic visits places pressure on health care providers and patients. Poor quality of care has been described in many contexts, but some clinics have achieved excellent treatment results. Using a success case approach, this study aimed to understand factors which contribute to successful care at a South African pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic with documented high patient adherence and follow-up rates. Data included over 50 hours of ethnographic observations and interviews with a total of 35 clinic staff and caregivers. Thematic analysis highlighted strong congruence between caregiver and staff perceptions. Factors which seemed to contribute to successful care included organizational routines, staff-patient relationships, communication, teamwork, leadership, job commitment, caregivers' negative experiences at other clinics, and faith in the "life-saving" care at this clinic. Results suggest the need for all factors to be present in order to promote quality of care. Recommendations for other clinic settings are discussed.