How Do Patients Evaluate the New Health Care System in General Practice? Results from the European Project on Patient Evaluation of General Practice Care (Europep) in Adana, Turkey

Aim: Evaluation of patient satisfaction is accepted as a valuable addition to other types of outcome measures (such as health status, quality of life or costs) in measuring the quality of general practice care. The aim of this study is to assess the patient satisfaction for primary care before and after the transition of health care system in Turkey. Methods: The study included a sample of 588 patients from three public family health centers (FHCs) in Adana. The study was conducted between March and April 2008 and May and June 2009. The patients were asked to assess their family physician based on their contact experience before and after the health care system transition in Turkey. Results: Overall satisfaction was %74.6 before and %93.5 after the transition (p=0.0001). The “Organization of care” was evaluated as the most improving dimension. However, the “Medical care” change was the worst rated. “Providing quick services for emergency health problems”, “Knowing what s/he had done or told you during contacts” “Preparing you for what to expect from specialist or hospital care”, “Being able to speak to the general practitioner on the telephone”, “Getting through to the practice on telephone” and “Helping you deal with emotional problems related with your health status” were evaluated as improving items (p=0.0001). Conclusion: Patient evaluation of care can contribute to make practices and their teams more responsive to patient’s needs.