Survey Methodology
The survey instrument was mailed to every medical home in the IHC program. Respondents had the choice to remain anonymous or to provide their IHC number so that they would not receive further requests to complete the survey. The mailing also contained a link to the online survey at Survey Monkey. A notice about the survey with a link to the Survey Monkey website was posted on the IHC website, placed on the cover page of the provider panel roster for 2 months and distributed to all of the primary care professional societies so that they could subsequently distribute to members. Additionally, the IHC Provider Service Representatives distributed surveys via face-to-face visits at provider offices and the IHC Helpdesk Staff requested providers to complete the survey during any inbound and outbound calls. Respondents who provided their IHC numbers were removed from the contact list and 3 subsequent blast faxes and emails were sent to all medical homes. A total of 1,436 completed surveys were returned over a thirteen week data collection period. This represents a response rate of 26.82% from a total of 5,719 medical homes. Of these, 1,264 were faxed, 146 responded via the web link through Survey Monkey and 26 were mailed. The remaining surveys were either incomplete or duplicates, and were not entered.
Survey Instrument
Illinois Health Connect Provider Survey questions were initially developed based on previous provider satisfaction surveys conducted by Automated Health Systems. The survey questions were shared with the HFS PCCM/DM Steering Committee, the Quality Management Subcommittee, and the Provider Network Subcommittee, the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians and the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians. Based on survey feedback from 2009 and new developments to the IHC program, questions were added to the 2010 PCP survey to evaluate PCP perceptions of the implementation of Phase I of the IHC Referral System and to assess the quality aspects of the IHC program such as access to the Provider Portal. Each year, the survey instrument is updated to assess new program components and refined based on feedback. The additions and modifications to the survey are carefully balanced with the goal of maintaining the consistency of the survey from year-to-year so trends can be analyzed.
Responses to the questions were posed as a 4-point Likert scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. No “neutral” response was included, as would be in the five-point Likert scale, to reduce social desirability bias and force respondents to render a positive or negative opinion. For appropriate questions, respondents were given an option of “did not use”. Surveys contained space for open-ended comments.
Survey Results
We appreciate all the provider offices and staff who took time out to complete this year’s IHC Provider survey.
We did group noteworthy and recurrent free text comments that you provided for IHC to use to improve our program. Your valuable feedback was also provided to HFS, who will continue to work with IHC on improving our program.
We received 1436 surveys and are pleased to report the following results:
97% Strongly Agree/Agree that IHC keeps me updated about changes and requirements
95% Strongly Agree/Agree that IHC is beneficial to my patients
95% of those offices that received assistance from the IHC Quality Assurance Nurse found the education received was helpful in explaining the quality components of IHC, such as how to achieve maximum bonus payments or understanding the Profile Measures
92% are overall satisfied with the administration of IHC
91% Strongly Agree/Agree that IHC’s implementation of the Phase 1 referral system requiring patients be seen in their own medical home has been a positive strength towards strengthening the medical home
89% Strongly Agree/Agree that IHC’s Enrollee Services Call Center Staff respond satisfactorily to clients’ questions and needs
86% Strongly Agree/Agree that my assigned IHC Provider Services Representatives who visited my office helped my staff and me to understand the program better
84% Strongly Agree/Agree blast faxes and blast emails from IHC keeps me informed of important updates
81% Strongly Agree/Agree that it is easy to reach my IHC Provider Services Representative
79% Strongly Agree/Agree that IHC Provider Services Help Desk Representatives available at 877-912-1999 satisfactorily answered my program questions.
Please contact the Illinois Health Connect PCCM program with questions or comments you may have at 877.912.1999.
