A Survey of Psychiatric Outpatients on Quality of Care

Despite increased emphasis on the quality of health care and on the dissemination of information about quality to the public, expectations are equivocal about consumers' interest in such information. A total of 110 psychiatric outpatients were asked about how they selected their mental health provider and were surveyed about their views on the quality of mental health care. Most study participants believed that quality can vary by provider, viewed themselves as active consumers of health care, desired more information about quality, and stated that if they had information about quality they would use such information when selecting a provider. Nevertheless, few sought such information in finding their clinician. Lower educational level of the participant was associated with a lower rating of interest in clinician quality.