Consultation Length, Process Quality and Diagnosis Quality of Primary Care in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Standardized Patient Study

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Citation

Wang, Qingzhi; Adhikari, Sasmita Poudel; Wu, Yuju; Sunil, Thankam S.; Mao, Yuping; Ye, Ruixue; Sun, Chang; Shi, Yaojiang; Zhou, Chengchao; & Sylvia, Sean, et al. (2022). Consultation Length, Process Quality and Diagnosis Quality of Primary Care in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Standardized Patient Study. Patient Education and Counseling, 105(4), 902-908.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Consultation length, the time spent between patient and health care provider during a visit, is an essential element in measuring quality of health care patients receive from a primary care facility. However, the linkage between consultation length and process quality and diagnosis quality of primary care is still uncertain. This study aims to examine the role consultation length plays in delivering process quality and diagnosis quality, two central components of overall primary care quality, in rural China.
METHODS: We recruited unannounced standardized patients (SPs) to present classic symptoms of angina and tuberculosis in selected healthcare facilities in three provinces of China. The consultation length and primary care quality of SPs were measured and compared with both international and national standards of care. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions for process quality (continuous dependent variable) and Logistic regressions for diagnosis quality (binary dependent variable) were performed to investigate the relationship between consultation length and primary care quality.
RESULTS: The average consultation lengths among patients with classic symptoms of angina and those with symptoms of tuberculosis were approximately 4.33 min and 6.28 min, respectively. Providers who spent more time with patients were significantly more likely to complete higher percentage of recommended checklist items of both questions and examinations for angina (

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.08.006.

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2022

Journal Title

Patient Education and Counseling

Author(s)

Wang, Qingzhi
Adhikari, Sasmita Poudel
Wu, Yuju
Sunil, Thankam S.
Mao, Yuping
Ye, Ruixue
Sun, Chang
Shi, Yaojiang
Zhou, Chengchao
Sylvia, Sean
Rozelle, Scott
Zhou, Huan

Article Type

Regular

Continent/Country

China

ORCiD

Sylvia - 0000-0002-9508-247X