Patient satisfaction and resident postgraduate year status
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 3 April 2014
Abstract
Purpose
Patient satisfaction has been recognized as an important variable affecting healthcare behavior. However, there are limited data on the relationship between doctor post-graduate year (PGY) status and patient satisfaction with provider interpersonal skills and humanistic qualities. The authors aims to assess this relationship using an American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) questionnaire.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were: patients attending a primary care clinic at a large urban academic hospital; and physicians treating them. The survey questionnaire was the ABIM patient satisfaction instrument; ten questions pertaining to humanistic qualities and communication skills with responses from poor to excellent. Mann Whitney U test and multi-variable logistic regression analyses were used to explore score differences by PGY level.
Findings
The postgraduate year one (PGY1) had higher patient-satisfaction levels compared to PGY2/PGY3 residents. The PGY1 level residents were more likely to score in the 90th percentile and this remained constant even after adjusting for confounders.
Research limitations/implications
The research was a single-center study and may have been subject to confounding factors such as patient personality types and a survey ceiling effect. The survey's cross-sectional nature may also be a potential limitation.
Practical implications
Patient satisfaction varies significantly with PGY status. Though clinical skills may improve with increasing experience, findings imply that interpersonal and humanistic qualities may deteriorate.
Originality/value
The study is the first to assess patient satisfaction with PGY status and provides evidence that advanced trainees may need support to keep their communication skills and humanistic qualities from deteriorating as stressors increase to ensure optimal patient satisfaction.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the outpatient medical center ancillary staff and nurses.
Citation
N. Nadkarni, G., Singh Sabharwal, M., Reddy Ammakkanavar, N., Annapureddy, N., Malhan, R., Mehta, B., Naag Kanakadandi, V., Kumar Agarwal, S. and D. Fried, E. (2014), "Patient satisfaction and resident postgraduate year status", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 182-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-05-2012-0049
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited