Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) has released the results of its annual survey of patient experiences in primary care practices across the states. This is the 14th year that MHQP has surveyed patients; this year it received more than 60,000 responses from patients in 842 adult and 343 pediatric primary care practices, which represent more than 4,000 primary care providers.
The results were generally impressive. In adult practices, patients highly rated patient-provider communications (94.6%), how well providers know their patients (89.7%), office staff professional excellence (89.4%), ease of access to care (87%), and coordinating patient care (86.8%). Assessing patient behavioral health care received only a 71.1% rating and empowering patient self-care got a 62.6% score. The applicable ratings for pediatric services were all higher than the adult care scores. In the general, open-ended patient comment section, MHQP said the good-versus-bad scores often revolved around the provider’s caring/compassionate attitude. That is, if clinicians treat people with respect and listen to their concerns, it resonates strongly – as does the opposite attitude.
The results of the survey are posted at
MHQP’s website here.