Patients are satisfied with advanced practice physiotherapists in a role traditionally performed by orthopaedic surgeons
To measure and compare patient satisfaction with follow-up care in advanced practice physiotherapist (APP) and orthopaedic surgeon clinics for patients following total hip or knee replacement. Consecutive patients attending either an APP-led or a surgeon-led review clinic were surveyed using a modif...
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Published in | Physiotherapy Canada Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 298 - 305 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Canada
University of Toronto Press Incorporated
2010
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | To measure and compare patient satisfaction with follow-up care in advanced practice physiotherapist (APP) and orthopaedic surgeon clinics for patients following total hip or knee replacement.
Consecutive patients attending either an APP-led or a surgeon-led review clinic were surveyed using a modified nine-item satisfaction questionnaire based on the Visit-Specific Satisfaction Instrument (VSQ-9). Chi-square analyses were used to examine differences in patient characteristics and type of visit. Independent t-tests were used to examine potential differences in patient satisfaction.
Of the 123 participants, more than half were aged 65 years or older. Chi-squared analyses revealed no significant difference in participant characteristics (gender, age, and overall health status) between the two different types of clinics. There was a significant difference (χ(2) (4)=12.49, p=0.014) in the distribution of the timing of follow-up appointments. There was no significant difference between the groups in mean overall patient satisfaction scores on the modified VSQ-9 (p=0.34) nor in the mean of the sum of the seven items related to the service provider (p=0.85). Satisfaction scores for most of the service-provider items were above 90/100.
Patients are highly satisfied with the care provided by APPs in follow-up clinics after joint replacement. Evaluation of the patient perspective is essential to any new role involving a shift in traditional practice boundaries. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. We are grateful to the orthopaedic surgeons at the Holland Orthopaedic & Arthritic Centre of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for their tremendous support of the role for advanced practice physiotherapists and of this project. Special thanks are extended to Dr. Jeffrey Gollish, Medical Director, and Anne Marie MacLeod, Operations Director at the Holland Centre, for their instrumental involvement and visionary guidance, and to Professor Paul Stratford for his expert consultation. |
ISSN: | 0300-0508 1708-8313 |
DOI: | 10.3138/physio.62.4.298 |