Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29462196›Full record

Observational studyPloS one2018

Interior renovation of a general practitioner office leads to a perceptual bias on patient experience for over one year.

Jérôme Gauthey, Raphaël Tièche, Sven Streit

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Jérôme GautheySpitalzentrum Biel, Biel, Switzerland.
Raphaël TiècheGeneral Practice Office, Grenchen, Switzerland.
Sven StreitInstitute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-3813-4616

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMeasuring patient experience is key when assessing quality of care but can be biased: A perceptual bias occurs when renovations of the interior design of a general practitioner (GP) office improves how patients assessed quality of care. The aim was to assess the length of perceptual bias and if it could be reproduced after a second renovation.

methodsA GP office with 2 GPs in Switzerland was renovated twice within 3 years. We assessed patient experience at baseline, 2 months and 14 months after the first and 3 months after the second renovation. Each time, we invited a sample of 180 consecutive patients that anonymously graded patient experience in 4 domains: appearance of the office; qualities of medical assistants and GPs; and general satisfaction. We compared crude mean scores per domain from baseline until follow-up. In a multivariate model, we adjusted for patient's age, gender and for how long patients had been their GP.

resultsAt baseline, patients aged 60.9 (17.7) years, 52% females. After the first renovation, we found a regression to the baseline level of patient experience after 14 months except for appearance of the office (p<0.001). After the second renovation, patient experience improved again in appearance of the office (p = 0.008), qualities of the GP (p = 0.008), and general satisfaction (p = 0.014). Qualities of the medical assistant showed a slight improvement (p = 0.068). Results were unchanged in the multivariate model.

conclusionsInterior renovation of a GP office probably causes a perceptual bias for >1 year that improves how patients rate quality of care. This bias could be reproduced after a second renovation strengthening a possible causal relationship. These findings imply to appropriately time measurement of patient experience to at least one year after interior renovation of GP practices to avoid environmental changes influences the estimates when measuring patient experience.

Indexed as

Medical Office BuildingsPatient SatisfactionQuality of Health CareAgedAge FactorsFamily PracticeFemaleGeneral PractitionersHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSex Factors

Identifiers

PMID29462196
PMCPMC5819831

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