Poll finds Alberta patients generally satisfied with primary care doctors
Alberta patients tend to be mostly satisfied with their family doctors, but some grumble over delays and other access issues, says a new poll conducted on behalf of physicians.
The survey, conducted by albertapatients.ca, an online patient community established by the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) and released Tuesday, queried 1,657 respondents about their experiences with primary care doctors, finding about seven in 10 were pleased with the care they received.
Of those who responded to the online poll, 72 per cent described their most recent experience with a family physician as very good or excellent, with the numbers for those seeing their regular family doctor rising to 77 per cent.
Dr. Padraic Carr, president of the AMA, said the numbers highlight the importance of the relationship between patients and a regular family doctor.
“Patient satisfaction and patient care improves when there’s a strong relationship with a family doctor,” he said.
“It speaks to the need for a medical home for everyone.”
However, despite the general level of satisfaction around medical care, many of those surveyed raised concerns about delays in scheduled appointments, availability of urgent and after-hours care, and responsiveness to medical questions for those who call or e-mail the doctor’s office.
Some 45 per cent of those polled said their most recent scheduled appointment didn’t start on time, and only 12 per cent of those were given any sort of explanation. While 59 per cent deemed the delays as acceptable, that number jumped to 81 per cent for those who were told a reason for the wait.
As well, four in 10 expressed concerns that after-hours care was not available from their physician, while half of those who did have that level of access described the service as poor.
Another 28 per cent of respondents said they struggled to get access to their physicians for injuries and urgent illnesses, with another 22 per cent complaining the ability to receive medical advice over the phone or by e-mail wasn’t available.
Carr said one of the difficulties of providing medical care is that it is the primary focus, which means other considerations that might improve the patient’s experience aren’t always at the forefront.
“Sometimes, the soft non-medical parts of the job seem like less of a priority,” he said.
“But what we’ve heard from this survey is that’s important for patients as well.”
Despite those concerns, the survey found patients with regular family doctors were generally happy about the care they received, and among those surveyed about nine in 10 said they have a family doctor. About 65 per cent of those said they’d recommend their family doctor to others, with another 63 per cent suggesting it would be unlikely that they would switch doctors.
Carr said the AMA will use the survey to improve the medical experience for patients.
The poll, conducted March 9 to 16, is a non-random sample, but considered to be a representative sample of patients in Alberta. A comparative margin of error on a similar survey conducted with random respondents would be considered accurate within 2.4 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.