Patients don't accurately gauge medical care: study
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 May 2006, 08:25 CDT
By Kim Dixon
CHICAGO -- Patients' ratings of their medical care are not a reliable gauge of the quality of care received, according to a study published on Tuesday in a medical journal.
Inflation in health-care costs and concern about medical errors have led insurers, the government's Medicare insurance program and consumers to increasingly use patient surveys in selecting health-care providers. Doctors and hospitals often advertise their high ratings to attract customers.
But the study, which looked at patients over age 65 enrolled in a managed health-care plan, found patient ratings do not accurately reflect the quality of care received, measured by whether patients got standard medical treatment for common ailments.
"You tend to see it in advertisements -- 'Our patients rate us high,"' said John Chang, the lead researcher on the study and a University of California, Los Angeles physician. "We don't find there is a relationship between what patients say" and the treatment received.
The study, in the May 2 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, was conducted by researchers at UCLA, research firm Rand Corp. and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Researchers compared medical records of about 240 seniors with interviews with the individuals on their opinions of the medical care received. Questions were asked about interpersonal communication and overall satisfaction with technical aspects of medical care.
It examined medical records for 22 common conditions, including heart disease and incontinence, and compared them against best practices for those conditions.
A push toward "quality" medical care is a hot topic at present, and it is frequently said that patients know more about the cars they buy than their own health care.
Researchers cautioned about using consumer satisfaction polls, which can be the cheapest and easiest way to measure "quality."
"This study shows we can not let patient ratings alone drive the debate over whether we need to improve the quality of care," said Neil Wenger, a UCLA professor and researcher at Rand.
Instead, a more meticulous approach that includes a study of medical records is needed, researchers said.
Because the study looked at just the over-65 population, other age groups should be studied before applying the conclusions more broadly, researchers said.
Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug maker, helped pay for the study.
Source: REUTERS
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