Patient Perception of Enough Time Spent With Provider Is a Mechanism for Improving Women Veterans’ Experiences With VA Outpatient Health Care

Abstract

We postulated that associations between two specific provider characteristics, class (nurse practitioner relative to physician) and primary care providers who are proficient and interested in women’s health (designated women’s provider relative to non-designated), and overall satisfaction with provider, were mediated through women Veterans’ perception of enough time spent with the provider. A national patient-experience survey was administered to 7,620 women Veterans. Multivariable models of overall patient satisfaction with provider were compared with and without the proposed mediator. A structural equation model (SEM) of the mediation of the two provider characteristics was also evaluated. Without the mediator, associations of provider class and designation with overall patient satisfaction were significant. With the proposed mediator these associations became non-significant. A SEM showed that the majority (>80%) of the positive associations between provider class and designation and the outcome were exerted through patient perception of enough time spent with provider. Higher ratings of overall satisfaction with provider exhibited by nurse practitioners and designated women’s health providers were exerted through patient perception of enough time spent with provider. Future research should examine what elements of provider training can be developed to improve provider-patient communication and patient satisfaction with their health care.

Smartphone-based Assessment of Preoperative Decision Conflict and Postoperative Physical Activity Among Patients Undergoing Cancer Surgery

“…Given that additional time between patients and providers is associated with positive patient-physician relationships and disease-specific outcomes, subsequent studies will consider time and other characteristics of the encounter where the decision for surgery was made when contextualizing DCS scores. 33,34 Furthermore, variability in decision support provided by surgeons during consultation was not measured; however, given the same surgeons performed each type of operation, discussions around decision-making were expected to include similar dialogue. In addition, this was a small, single-institution study, limited to English-speakers, where the majority of patients were White/Caucasian and privately insured.…”