Report Title

The Public's Perception and Satisfaction with Physician Assistants Serving in Southeast San Bernardino County

Collective Title

Master of Physician Assistant Research Reports 2005

Abstract

Purpose: The physician assistant profession is relatively new and continues to have an increasing demand in health care. Physician assistants (P As) have become a great asset to the medical field. The purpose of the study was to investigate the public's view of the roles played by PAs in patients' care, and its level of satisfaction and comfort with the quality of care P As provide in an urban setting. Methods: We used a survey that was written in two languages (English and Spanish) to assess satisfaction and comfort levels of 140 subjects, 18-80 years of age, in two primary care clinics in southeast San Bernardino County. Results: Satisfaction and comfort levels were not significantly different among various age groups, income levels, types of insurance, or genders. Spanish-speaking subjects were more comfortable when treated by P As than English-speaking subjects (z=-2.5, p=.01). Both groups, however, had similar levels of satisfaction (8.5± 1.2 vs. 8.8± 1.1, p > .05). A higher proportion of subjects who had not heard about PAs (72%) reported that they would like to have more information about their services than those who had heard about PAs (44.7%) C-l=5.7, p=.02). Conclusions: Our findings indicated that the majority of the subjects were very satisfied and felt comfortable with services provided by P As in an urban setting. More information, however, needs to be provided on the PA profession in order to increase the public's awareness regarding PA services.

LLU Discipline

Physician Assistant

Department

Physician Assistant

School

School of Allied Health Professions

First Advisor

Bourne, Kenrick C.

Second Advisor

Daher, Noha

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

2005

Date (Title Page)

2005

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Physician Assistants; San Bernardino County (Calif.)

Keywords

Public perception; Public satisfaction

Type

Research Report

Page Count

6 pg.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Research Reports

Collection Website

scholarsrepository.llu.edu/rr/

Repository

Loma Linda University. University Libraries.

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