The Aetna Foundation and four other healthcare foundations in Connecticut have announced plans to fund a survey of residents aimed at finding out how well healthcare is delivered in the state.
The survey, which will be modeled after other national healthcare quality and experience surveys, is the first of its kind in Connecticut to examine patient views of healthcare at the state and county level. Results are expected in early 2013 and will be presented in a report entitled, "The State of Health for the State of Connecticut."
"Patient experiences offer a unique perspective on health and the performance of the healthcare system, especially for people of color, low-income families and other underserved populations," said Gillian Barclay, vice president of the Aetna Foundation in a press release. "By surveying patients here in Connecticut, we can develop a strong repository of data to guide nonprofits, public agencies and practitioners in their efforts to improve the quality of healthcare in our state."
[See also: NCQA releases State of Health Care report; CMS needs better process for physician quality reporting]
The Aetna Foundation is spearheading the prjoect. Other participating organizations in the research study are the Connecticut Health Foundation, the Donaghue Foundation, the Foundation for Community Health and the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut.
The study will be conducted via a randomized telephone survey of 4,000 adult residents over the span of 12 weeks next spring. The work will be conducted by the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Health Policy and Research and will use a sampling that reflects the state's population demographics across all eight Connecticut counties.
Much of the survey will focus on patients' experiences with primary care, including whether they have a regular doctor, how easily they can make appointments and how well their care is coordinated with specialists or other providers. Other questions will examine the patient-doctor relationship and how well patients' questions are answered and whether patients' needs and preferences are respected.
The survey also will explore whether patients receive timely preventative care services, such as PAP smears and blood pressure screenings, and patients' perceptions of the care they receive. Finally, a series of demographic questions will help identify racial and ethnic disparities in care and health outcomes and the impact of education, income and insurance coverage on the quality of care the patients receive.
"With most of the provisions legislated by the Affordable Care Act scheduled to be enacted in 2014, we need to benchmark the current state of healthcare in Connecticut and have available critical data that can help us pinpoint health gaps and find solutions," said Patricia Baker, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, in a press release announcing the collaboration. "Results from the survey also will be used to develop policy briefs that will be disseminated to policy makers and other decision makers in the state."