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. 2008 Nov;4(2):86-100.

In the eyes of the beholder: population perspectives on performance priorities for primary care in Canada

Whitney Berta  1 , Jan Barnsley, Adalsteinn Brown, Michael Murray
Affiliations

In the eyes of the beholder: population perspectives on performance priorities for primary care in Canada

Whitney Berta et al. Healthc Policy. 2008 Nov.

Abstract
in English, French

The purposes of this study were to identify the Canadian population's performance priorities for primary care, to ascertain the stability of these priorities over time and to examine variation across priorities among different subgroups of the population. The authors administered a survey of 10 priorities (determined through earlier work) to over 1,000 Canadians in 2001, and again in 2004. Analysis of variance was used to compare the ratings of each priority across the two years. The authors completed a forward stepwise regression analysis to examine the relationships between performance priorities and population characteristics in each year. The overall order of importance ascribed to the 10 performance priorities is sustained from 2001 to 2004, as is the significance and directionality of several relationships between performance priorities and population subgroups distinguished by sex, age, education, income and province. Respondents generally think that the evaluation of primary care services should be predicated on assessments of physicians' technical skill along with their communication skills, but place less emphasis on practice management aspects of primary care. The findings offer a basis for a meaningful, feasible, national public performance reporting strategy for primary healthcare (reform), where measures reflect the 10 performance priorities highly valued by the Canadian population.

L'objet de cette étude était de déterminer, du point de vue de la population canadienne, les priorités en matière de rendement dans les soins primaires, de vérifier la stabilité de ces priorités au fil du temps et d'étudier leurs variations en fonction de différents sous-groupes de la population. Les auteurs ont effectué un sondage au sujet de 10 priorités (établies au cours de travaux antérieurs) auprès d'un échantillon de 1 000 Canadiens en 2001 et en 2004. L'analyse de la variance a servi à comparer le classement de chacune des priorités au cours des deux années. Pour chacune des années, les auteurs ont employé la régression multiple ascendante pour analyser la relation entre les priorités en matière de rendement et les caractéristiques de la population.

En général, l'ordre d'importance attribuée aux 10 priorités se maintient entre 2001 et 2004, de même que la signification et le lien directionnel dans plusieurs relations entre les priorités et les sous-groupes populationnels déterminés selon le genre, l'âge, la scolarisation, le revenu et la province. En général, les répondants considèrent que l'évaluation des services de première ligne devrait tenir compte des compétences techniques et communicationnelles des médecins, mais ils accordent moins d'importance aux aspects concernant la gestion de la pratique des soins primaires.

Les conclusions jettent les bases d'une stratégie nationale de divulgation publique du rendement des soins primaires (réforme), dans laquelle les mesures reflètent les 10 priorités jugées importantes par la population canadienne.

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