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The effect of primary care training on patient satisfaction ratings

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Abstract

This study examines the association between type of internal medicine training and satisfaction ratings among 509 patients who visited the clinic of an urban teaching hospital over a 3-month period in 1994. When controlling for patient, health-system, and other resident factors, primary care training was significantly associated with higher satisfaction ratings (cumulative odds ratio 1.53; 95% confidence interval 1.04, 2.25; p=.031) than categorical training. Using satisfaction ratings to rank the residents without adjusting for patient and health-system factors would have correctly classified only 27% of the residents in the lowest quartile. These findings have implications for both the education and potential employment of internists.

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Supported by the Department of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital. Brown University School of Medicine. During this study, Dr. Bialor was a Fellow in General Internal Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital.

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Bialor, B.D., Gimotty, P.A., Poses, R.M. et al. The effect of primary care training on patient satisfaction ratings. J GEN INTERN MED 12, 776–780 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1997.07164.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1997.07164.x

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