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Patient telephone interviews

A valuable technique for finding problems and assessing quality in ambulatory medical care

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Abstract

Telephone interviews to obtain direct patient feedback about medical care can provide an important means for inducing behavior change of providers as part of an ongoing quality assurance program. This article reviews development of our telephone interview methodology and summarizes our experience with 1,110 patient interviews during a three-year period.

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Authors
  1. Linda Zimney R.N.
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  2. Marion P. McClain M.S.
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  3. Paul B. Batalden M.D.
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  4. J. Paul O'Connor
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Additional information

From the Quality Assurance Program, Health Services Research Center, St. Louis Park Medical Center, and the Center for Health Services Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. This work has been supported in part by grants from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Bush Foundation. Reprint requests should be addressed to Linda Zimney, R.N., Health Services Research Center, St. Louis Park Medical Center, 5000 West Thirty-Ninth Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416.

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Zimney, L., McClain, M.P., Batalden, P.B. et al. Patient telephone interviews. J Community Health 6, 35–42 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324055

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01324055

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