How the Novel Person-Centered Primary Care Measure Performs in Canada

Abstract

Background: The Person-Centered Primary Care Measure (PCPCM) is a relatively new and concise yet comprehensive measure of primary care quality. The objectives of this study are to administer the PCPCM in Canada and to understand whether there is an association between the PCPCM and sociodemographic and patient experience measures.

Methods: The PCPCM was added to the routine patient experience survey administered at a multi-site academic primary care practice in Toronto, Canada. The survey was administered to patients with an e-mail on file and included questions on demographics, timely access, patient-centeredness, care continuity, and the PCPCM. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the PCPCM. We used 1-way analysis of variance to determine whether there was an association between the PCPCM and patient demographics and patient experience measures at the team level.

Results: We analyzed 2581 survey responses. The mean PCPCM score was 3.47. The PCPCM was higher for people with better health status (P < .001), those born in Canada (P = .036), those with higher educational attainment (P = .003), and those who knew their provider for longer (P < .001). There was no significant association between PCPCM and income quintile (P = .417). The PCPCM was significantly associated with all 9 patient experience measures related to access, patient-centeredness, and care continuity (P < .001).

Conclusions: The 11-item PCPCM is a feasible and meaningful measure that reflects patient-reported access, continuity, and patient-centeredness and can be incorporated into primary care patient experience surveys to evaluate and improve quality of care.

Keywords: Ambulatory Care; Analysis of Variance; Canada; Continuity of Patient Care; Family Medicine; Patient Reported Outcome Measures; Patient Satisfaction; Primary Health Care; Quality Improvement.