quality reports : Patient Experiences


Quality Insights:
2009 Patient Experiences in Primary Care

Care and Service from Others in the Doctors' Office:
Getting Quality Care from Other Doctors and Nurses in the Office

What this quality measure means...

Most doctors work in an office with other doctors, nurses, and health professionals. Doctors often work with these people as a team, meaning that patients may get care from any or all of these professionals.

MHQP measured how well doctor's offices give quality care from other doctors and nurses in the office by asking 4 questions:

In the last 12 months when you saw other doctors or nurses in your (or your child's) doctor's office...

  • How often did these other doctors and nurses explain things in ways that were easy to understand?
  • How often did you feel that these other doctors and nurse had all the information they needed to provide your care?
  • How often did these other doctors and nurses spend enough time with you (and your child)?
  • Overall, how would you rate the care you (or your child) got from these other doctors and nurses?

Ways your doctor's office can help...

  • Let patients know if doctors work as part of a team with other health professionals in the office. Your doctor's office can give you information or talk with you about what to expect. This includes who is on their team and when you are likely to be seen by one professional or another.
  • Communicate closely with all team members. A doctor's office can have systems that make it easy to find your past and present health information. Systems not only help all team members find needed information but also ensure that your information is kept private so that only those team members who need to see your information can look at it.
  • Know that it takes time and effort for team members to get to know each patient. This means that patients may need longer appointments when meeting a team member for the first time.

Ways you can help...

  • Know that there may be times when your own doctor cannot see you. This may happen because you need an appointment but your doctor is not available. This will give you a chance to get to know other professionals on your doctor's team.
  • Discuss your health history and problems. Be as complete and accurate as possible. Even though your own doctor knows a lot about you, the medical record may not include all the information you want this professional to know.
  • Ask questions and let the new doctor or nurse know if you do not understand. Your health team will do a better job for you if you tell them that you did not understand something and make sure they explain everything in a way that is clear to you.

Important information about this measure: Results are reported for pediatric practices only. MHQP reports results for measures with enough patients to have accurate results. Most adult primary care practices did not have enough patients who saw other doctors or nurses to report results about patients’ care in this area.


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