Quality of primary care provided in community clinics in Japan

• Published in: Journal of General and Family Medicine Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 48 - 54
• Main Authors: Ozaki, Makiko, Matsumura, Shinji, Iwamoto, Momoko, Kamitani, Satoshi, Higashi, Takahiro, Toyama, Manabu, Bito, Seiji, Waza, Kazuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Wiley 01.03.2019; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Asthma; Blood pressure; Clinics; Community; Diabetes; Diabetic neuropathy; Drug therapy; Health care policy; Health facilities; Health insurance; Hospitals; Hypertension; local clinics; Medical records; Original; Original Articles; Patients; Physicians; Population; Primary care; Quality; Quality control; quality indicators; quality of health care; Studies; Japan; local clinics; primary care; quality of health care; quality indicators
• ISSN: 2189-7948; 2189-6577; 2189-7948
• DOI: 10.1002/jgf2.229

Background Quality indicators (QIs) for primary care are used worldwide. To date, however, the use of QIs to assess the quality of primary care in Japan has not been reported besides diabetes care. Here, we used QIs to evaluate the quality of primary care services provided by local clinics in Japan. Methods Four primary care clinics participated in the retrospective medical chart review in 2015. To assess primary care quality, we used 18 process‐oriented QIs from the Quality Indicators for Primary Care practice in Japan (QIPC‐J) those we previously developed by using a modified Delphi appropriateness method, which comprises 39 QIs in five categories (Comprehensive care/Standardized care, Access, Communication, Coordination, and Understanding of patient's background). Adult subjects were selected from among patients who visited each clinic within the previous one year using medical claims data. We collected data by reviewing medical charts, and calculated the quality score for each QI and clinic. Results A cumulative total of 4330 medical charts were reviewed. The overall quality score was 31.5%. Adherence to QIs ranged from 3.2% to 85.6%. Some quality scores varied substantially between clinics but the overall quality of care among clinics varied less, from 29.2% to 34.0%. Conclusions The quality of primary care services provided by local clinics in Japan varies by both QI and clinic. Strategies to improve the quality of care are warranted.