ASSESSING HEALTHCARE PROVIDER SATISFACTION OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE ARIZONA REGIONAL EXTENSION CENTER (REC): A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY

Purpose: To evaluate user satisfaction among practices receiving services provided by the Arizona Regional Extension Center (REC) associated with the goal of achieving Meaningful Use of electronic health record (EHR) systems.

Method: This study targeted all 485 medical practices identified by the REC as members.  An invitation to respond, the satisfaction questionnaire, and two subsequent reminders (if applicable) were mailed to the designated professional who handles all interaction with the REC at each member practice.  A power analysis assuming a 5 percent margin of error, a 95 percent confidence level, and a 50% response distribution estimated that at least 219 responses were required to ensure an adequate response rate.  Survey responses were compared between practices that have versus those that have not achieved Meaningful Use using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test.  Analyses of user perceptions were based upon practices that reported currently receiving REC services to prevent recall bias.

Result: A total of 255 (52.6%) responses were received, fulfilling the power requirement with respect to the generalizability of the study to the general REC member practices.  Among the respondents, 196 (76.9%) practices were currently receiving services at the time of completing the questionnaire, 99 (50.5%) of which had achieved Stage 1 Meaningful Use (i.e., fulfilled attestation).  Compared with practices that were in the process of achieving Meaningful Use, practices that had completed attestation were more likely to agree that education provided by the REC team applies to their practice (p=0.039).  These practices also had a significantly more positive opinion regarding the contribution of REC technical assistance providers to their ability to achieve Meaningful Use criteria (p=0.017).  Satisfaction level on specific REC services was comparable.

Conclusion: Practices that were in the process of achieving Stage 1 Meaningful Use before receiving assistance from the REC may possess a more conservative attitude towards the benefit of REC services.