Project Solo: An Independent Practitioner Initiative for Confidential Self-Assessment of Quality

Abstract

Project Solo, a grassroots organization of independ ent physicians, has developed a unique method of confi dential self-assessment of quality. Participating physi cians can use the data to improve their own practices and to have a strong, credible voice for retaining and promoting the strengths of independent practices in providing medical care. In a pilot project, 56 independ ent physicians in Project Solo were given bar-coded, postage-paid survey forms of patient satisfaction to dis tribute to 100 patients. The population for this pilot study was the 35 physicians with patients returning at least one survey. A total of 1858 surveys (53% of sur veys given to physicians) were returned, representing a variety of rural and urban practices in 19 states. The mean percentage of responses rated "excellent" to sur vey items from Project Solo physicians is similar to the percentages reported for this survey in other studies. We conclude that Project Solo serves as an effective and efficient model for gathering patient satisfaction data and can be further developed as a tool for gathering clinical outcome and other quality measurement data in the solo and small group practice setting.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Health care in crisis: are HMO's the answer? Consumer Rep August 1992;519-531.

Mechanic D. , Greenley JR , Cleary PD , et al. A model of rural health care: Consumer response among users of the Marshfield Clinic. Med Care 1980;18:597-608.

Francis AM , Polissav L. , Lorenz AB Care of patients with colorectal cancer: A comparison of a health maintenance organization and fee for service practices. Med Care 1984;22:418-429.

Stein SR , Linn MW , Edelstein J. , et al. Elderly patients satisfaction with care under HMO versus private systems. South Med J. 1989;82:3-8.

Temkin-Greener H. , Winchel M. Medicaid beneficiaries under managed care: Provider choice and satisfaction. Health Serv Res 1991;26:509-529.

Davies AR , Ware JE Jr, Brook RH , et al. Consumer acceptance of prepaid and fee-for-service medical care: Results from a randomized controlled trial. Health Serv Res 1986;21:429-452.

Rubin HR , Gandek B. , Rogers WH , et al. Patients' ratings of outpatient visits in different practice settings. JAMA 1993;270:835-840.

Davies AR , Ware JE Jr. Involving consumers in quality of care assessment. Health Aff 1988;7:33-48.

Cleary PD , McNeil BJ Patient satisfaction as an indicator of quality care. Inquiry 1988;25:25-36.

10.

Maloney TW , Paul B. The consumer movement takes hold in medical care. Health Aff 1991;10:268-279.

11.

Ware JE Jr, Hays RD Methods for measuring patient satisfaction with specific medical encounters . Med Care 1988;26:393.

12.

Rubin HR Can patients evaluate the quality of hospital care? Med Care Rev 1990;47:267-326.

13.

Rubin HR , Wu AW Patient satisfaction: Its importance and how to measure it. In: Gitrick G , ed. The Business of Medicine: A Physician's Guide. New York, Elsevier Science Publishing, 1992;397-409.

14.

Berwick D , Godfrey AB , Roessner J , eds. Curing Health Care: New Strategies for Quality Improvement. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 1990 ;55.

15.

Cope DW , Linn LS , Leake BD , et al. Modification of residents' behavior by preceptor feedback of patient satisfaction. J Gen Intern Med. 1986 ;1:394-398.

16.

Project Solo Organizational Meeting, American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Annual Meeting, September 1994, San Diego, CA.

17.

Ware JE Jr, Davies AR , Rubin HR Patients' assessments of their care. In: The Quality of Medical Care: Information for Consumers (OTA-H-386). Washington, DC, U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1988;231-247.

18.

Radosevich, D. Health Outcomes Institute, Bloomington, MN, Personal communication.