Influence of Shared Medical Appointments on Patient Satisfaction: A Retrospective 3-Year Study

In Brief

The Influence of Shared Medical Appointments on Patient Satisfaction: A Retrospective 3-Year Study.

Leonie Heyworth , and colleagues

Background In shared medical appointments (SMAs), multiple patients are seen as a group by a health care team for follow-up care or management of chronic conditions. SMAs represent an innovation that could improve access, cost, disease management outcomes, and patient-centeredness in primary care. This study examines satisfaction and patient-centered care experiences among patients attending SMAs compared with usual care appointments.

What This Study Found In a large multispecialty group practice, patients attending group appointments report greater overall satisfaction compared with those attending individual primary care office visits. SMA patients are more likely to rate their overall satisfaction with care as "very good" and rate their visits as more accessible and more sensitive to their needs. Usual care patients consistently report higher levels of satisfaction with their relationship with their clinician, including time spent and communication during the encounter, compared with SMA peers.

Implications

• In an understaffed primary care system facing growing numbers of eligible patients, SMAs may accommodate a greater number of patients in a timely fashion.
• The authors call for additional research to examine satisfaction with group visits over time and identify strategies to enhance patient-clinician communication within shared medical appointments.