Characteristics Associated with Physician Job and Referral Satisfaction: Bivariate Results
| Characteristics | Sample Size | Average Physician Job Satisfaction | Average Physician Referral Satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician Characteristics | |||
| Gender | |||
| Male | 321 | 3.72 (0.69)** | 3.74 (0.69) |
| Female | 177 | 3.53 (0.79) | 3.62 (0.79) |
| Race | |||
| White | 425 | 3.68 (0.72)* | 3.70 (0.73) |
| Nonwhite | 65 | 3.43 (0.73) | 3.61 (0.72) |
| Specialty | |||
| Family practice | 300 | 3.66 (0.70) | 3.69 (0.72) |
| Internal medicine | 163 | 3.60 (0.77) | 3.65 (0.77) |
| General practice | 30 | 3.68 (0.83) | 3.94 (0.58) |
| Board-certified | |||
| Yes | 343 | 3.63 (0.76) | 3.72 (0.75) |
| No | 125 | 3.65 (0.70) | 3.63 (0.65) |
| Years in Practice | |||
| <15 years | 229 | 3.56 (0.74)* | 3.57 (0.75)** |
| ≥15 years | 243 | 3.70 (0.74) | 3.82 (0.69) |
| Tolerance for uncertainty in patient care (range, 0–8) | |||
| <5 | 158 | 3.49 (0.70)** | 3.54 (0.69)** |
| ≥5 | 332 | 3.74 (0.73) | 3.78 (0.72) |
| Physician Practice Characteristics | |||
| Patient visits per hour | |||
| <2.5 | 219 | 3.63 (0.75) | 3.65 (0.80) |
| ≥2.5 | 276 | 3.66 (0.72) | 3.73 (0.67) |
| Administrative hours per week | |||
| <8 | 220 | 3.77 (0.73)** | 3.77 (0.76)* |
| ≥8 | 269 | 3.55 (0.72) | 3.62 (0.70) |
| Percentage patients referred per month | |||
| <10 | 173 | 3.77 (.072)** | 3.73 (0.79) |
| ≥10 | 322 | 3.58 (0.73) | 3.67 (0.70) |
| Percentage female patients | |||
| <60 | 198 | 3.66 (0.66) | 3.75 (0.71) |
| ≥60 | 298 | 3.64 (0.77) | 3.67 (0.74) |
| Percentage nonwhite patients | |||
| <10 | 144 | 3.70 (0.71) | 3.77 (0.75) |
| ≥10 | 351 | 3.63 (0.74) | 3.66 (0.72) |
| Percentage patients ≤18 years | |||
| <15 | 245 | 3.65 (0.76) | 3.71 (0.75) |
| ≥15 | 251 | 3.66 (0.69) | 3.69 (0.71) |
| Percentage patients ≥65 years | |||
| <20 | 166 | 3.67 (0.71) | 3.65 (0.76) |
| ≥20 | 330 | 3.64 (0.74) | 3.72 (0.71) |
| Percentage patients from middle- or upper-class households | |||
| <60 | 184 | 3.55 (0.72)* | 3.61 (0.74) |
| ≥60 | 308 | 3.71 (0.73) | 3.74 (0.72) |
| Office Characteristics | |||
| Office type | |||
| Solo Primary | 76 | 3.82 (0.66)** | 3.85 (0.62)* |
| Group Primary | 246 | 3.55 (0.78) | 3.64 (0.75) |
| Multi-specialty | 155 | 3.72 (0.66) | 3.74 (0.70) |
| Number of providers | |||
| <8 | 227 | 3.74 (0.66)* | 3.69 (0.70) |
| ≥8 | 270 | 3.57 (0.78) | 3.70 (0.76) |
| Private Ownership | |||
| Yes | 298 | 3.73 (0.70)** | 3.73 (0.70)** |
| No | 167 | 3.50 (0.70) | 3.50 (0.76) |
| Difficulty/ease of referral | |||
| 1 Very difficult | 9 | 2.88 (0.95)** | 3.00 (0.67)** |
| 2 | 75 | 3.48 (0.72) | 3.32 (0.84) |
| 3 | 170 | 3.55 (0.72) | 3.57 (0.64) |
| 4 | 144 | 3.72 (0.72) | 3.74 (0.68) |
| 5 Very easy | 96 | 3.90 (0.66) | 4.20 (0.54) |
| Compensation and Care Management | |||
| Type of Compensation | |||
| Salary | 319 | 3.56 (0.77)** | 3.68 (0.74) |
| Fee-for-service | 170 | 3.83 (0.63) | 3.72 (0.73) |
| Productivity bonus | |||
| Yes | 260 | 3.54 (0.79)** | 3.62 (0.71) |
| No | 238 | 3.78 (0.65) | 3.78 (0.75) |
| Percentage patients in HMOs | |||
| <20 | 166 | 3.74 (0.73) | 3.65 (0.73) |
| ≥20 | 274 | 3.61 (0.73) | 3.76 (0.70) |
| Financial withhold for referrals | |||
| Yes | 137 | 3.50 (0.74)** | 3.47 (0.72)** |
| No | 361 | 3.71 (0.73) | 3.78 (0.72) |
| Office prior approval required to refer to specialist inside the office | |||
| Yes | 119 | 3.65 (0.73) | 3.80 (0.69) |
| No | 379 | 3.65 (0.74) | 3.66 (0.74) |
| Office prior approval required to refer to specialist outside the office | |||
| Yes | 270 | 3.58 (0.76)* | 3.73 (0.75) |
| No | 228 | 3.74 (0.69) | 3.65 (0.71) |
| Office follows written referral guidelines | |||
| Yes | 196 | 3.63 (0.76) | 3.73 (0.73) |
| No | 302 | 3.66 (0.71) | 3.67 (0.73) |
| Office follows written clinical guidelines for treating specific conditions | |||
| Yes | 177 | 3.65 (0.73) | 3.75 (0.77) |
| No | 321 | 3.65 (0.74) | 3.67 (0.71) |
Bivariate tests used analysis of variance. For continuous variables, statistical tests were performed by dividing the distribution at the median.
* P < .05.
** P < .01