Measuring patient perspectives on community pharmacy quality: Psychometric evaluation of a brief survey

Delesha M. Carpenter, Courtney A. Roberts, Joel F. Farley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Measuring patient perspectives of the quality of health care delivery is an essential component of building a patient-centered model of care, which has garnered increasing emphasis under value-based payment models. Although measurements of patient perspectives of physician practices are common, few validated measures are currently available to assess patient perspectives of pharmacy quality. OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability and validity of a brief measure that assesses patient experiences with the quality of community pharmacy services, referred to as the “patient experience” measure. METHODS: This article focuses on the second phase of a 2-phase survey development study. In the second phase, a convenience sample of 400 adult patients with chronic health conditions completed the final 7-item version of the patient experience measure via an online survey. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to determine the number of factors underlying the patient experience measure. Internal consistency reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha, and construct validity was evaluated by examining relationships between the patient experience measure, a quality of pharmacy services item, and patient demographic variables. RESULTS: Eigenvalues and scree plots suggested a 1-factor solution, with this single factor explaining 64% of the variance in the patient experience measure. Cronbach's alpha indicated excellent reliability (α=0.90). Individuals with more positive patient experience scores rated the quality of their pharmacies' services significantly higher (Pearson r=0.73, P<0.001). Mean patient experience scores for those who had gone to their pharmacies for 7-11 months (mean=3.66) were significantly lower than for those who had been going to their pharmacies for 5 or more years (mean=4.22). CONCLUSIONS: The patient experience measure demonstrated excellent reliability and was correlated with patient perceptions of pharmacy quality. The measure also differentiated between individuals based on the length of time they had been going to their pharmacies. The scale could be used to quickly assess patient experience with community pharmacy services.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)105-111
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Community Pharmacists Association Innovation Center through a grant from the Community Pharmacy Foundation. Farley reports an unrelated grant from AstraZeneca and fees from Takeda for expert testimony. The other authors have nothing to disclose.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. All rights reserved.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measuring patient perspectives on community pharmacy quality: Psychometric evaluation of a brief survey'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this