Supporting medical home transformation through evaluation of patient experience in a large culturally diverse primary care safety net

Prevalence of chronic disease in the United States is rapidly increasing, with a disproportionate number of underserved, vulnerable patients sharing the burden. The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a care delivery model that has shown promise to improve primary care and address the burden of chronic illness in the United States. We evaluated patient experience among primary care safety-net providers in Broward County, Florida in order to understand patient characteristics associated with experience and to identify opportunities that could support PCMH transformation among providers. As part of the study we surveyed 351 culturally and ethnically diverse patients. Findings suggest that having a chronic disease, a greater number of primary care visits in the past 12 months, and receiving a referral to a chronic disease workshop were positively associated with better patient experience. Our study also suggests that race, ethnicity, language, and education are not strong predictors of patient experience. These findings will be used to inform county-wide transformation activities including patient engagement and support for a community-based chronic disease self-management network