Performance of the provider recognition program's survey to assess patient satisfaction with the provision of diabetes care in primary care.

Objective: To measure, for the first time, the performance of the American Diabetes Association-National Committee for Quality Assurance Provider Recognition Program (PRP) survey in assessing patient satisfaction with the provision of diabetes care.

Study Design: Postal survey.

Patients And Methods: The PRP survey satisfaction questions and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire were mailed to a random sample of 607 patients with diabetes attending 3 medical practices (63 primary care providers), with an additional mailing to nonresponders.

Results: On face validity, the PRP survey incompletely addressed satisfaction with the provision of diabetes care. The response rate was 67%. The items in the PRP survey were correlated internally (Cronbach alpha coefficient = .89) and with the Overall Satisfaction scale (r = 0.40-0.56; P < .001 for all) of the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (concurrent validity). The instrument was skewed toward satisfaction. After recoding all less-than-totally satisfied responses as expressing dissatisfaction, 25% of the surveys indicated dissatisfaction with diabetes care.

Conclusions: The PRP patient satisfaction survey is an internally consistent and valid measure of patient satisfaction. However, it is incomplete and skewed toward satisfaction. Development of a patient dissatisfaction metric might play a more significant role in orienting quality improvement efforts and benchmarking.