Table 1.

Quality of Medical Care Experiences among Patients Seen by Primary Care Physicians Versus Specialists (Total Sample = 646)

	Primary Care				Specialty Care					Significance^*
	PC (Sample Range: 261–281)	Internal Medicine (Sample Range: 82–90)	Family Medicine (Sample Range: 93–95)	Pediatrics (Sample Range: 86–96)	SC (Sample Range: 261–281)	OBGyn (Sample Range: 79–88)	Gastroenterology (Sample Range: 91–94)	General Surgery (Sample Range: 85–91)	Dermatology (Sample Range: 86–92)	t Test	ANOVA
First contact (utilization)	2.94 (0.73)	2.91 (0.69)	2.85 (0.74)	3.05 (0.76)	2.69 (1.00)	2.43 (0.92)	2.95 (1.38)	2.67 (0.71)	2.69 (0.78)	3.53^§	5.18^§
First contact (access)	2.55 (0.72)	2.61 (0.72)	2.61 (0.68)	2.44 (0.75)	2.16 (0.74)	2.11 (0.87)	2.17 (0.69)	2.19 (0.66)	2.18 (0.76)	6.73^§	8.20^§
Ongoing care	2.66 (0.75)	2.66 (0.77)	2.62 (0.65)	2.70 (0.84)	2.48 (0.73)	2.30 (0.87)	2.55 (0.67)	2.54 (0.68)	2.54 (0.67)	2.95^‡	2.70^†
Coordination (referral)	2.72 (0.65)	2.67 (0.64)	2.69 (0.63)	2.80 (0.69)	2.58 (0.69)	2.35 (0.83)	2.77 (0.66)	2.49 (0.57)	2.68 (0.60)	2.62^‡	5.17^§
Coordination information system	2.70 (1.16)	2.55 (0.74)	2.87 (1.68)	2.66 (0.76)	2.52 (0.76)	2.39 (0.83)	2.63 (0.72)	2.43 (0.74)	2.60 (0.74)	2.43^‡	2.62^†
Comprehensiveness (services available)	2.62 (0.76)	2.54 (0.71)	2.58 (0.70)	2.73 (0.85)	2.40 (0.83)	2.48 (0.91)	2.46 (0.76)	2.19 (0.75)	2.46 (0.86)	3.47^§	3.84^§
Comprehensiveness (Services provided)	2.78 (0.73)	2.65 (0.71)	2.81 (0.62)	2.88 (0.84)	2.57 (0.72)	2.35 (0.89)	2.55 (0.71)	2.65 (0.63)	2.72 (0.58)	3.60^§	5.29^§
Family centeredness	2.77 (0.76)	2.67 (0.77)	2.68 (0.68)	2.97 (0.79)	2.56 (0.80)	2.41 (0.89)	2.59 (0.71)	2.51 (0.80)	2.73 (0.77)	3.38^§	4.84^§
Community orientation	2.28 (0.64)	2.26 (0.65)	2.24 (0.66)	2.33 (0.61)	2.00 (0.73)	2.00 (0.78)	2.19 (0.73)	1.89 (0.63)	1.94 (0.74)	5.06^§	6.08^§
Cultural competence	2.65 (0.66)	2.75 (0.69)	2.65 (0.64)	2.55 (0.66)	2.46 (0.73)	2.21 (0.79)	2.61 (0.63)	2.29 (0.78)	2.69 (0.61)	3.39^§	7.99^§
Overall PC experience	26.60 (5.32)	26.21 (5.66)	26.57 (5.10)	27.00 (5.25)	24.41 (5.65)	23.01 (7.38)	25.49 (5.08)	23.90 (4.90)	25.07 (4.75)	4.81^§	5.85^§

For each area of PC and SC listed, both minimum and maximum sample sizes are provided. Statistics included in the table are mean scores (SD) for the domains of health care experiences.
* t test compares PC with SC. ANOVA compares differences across specialties.
† P < .05.
‡ P < .01.
§ P < .001.
PC, primary care; SC, specialty care; OBGyn, obstetrics/gynecology; ANOVA, analysis of variance.