New professional roles and patient satisfaction: evidence from a European survey along three clinical pathways

This paper reports the results of an empirical analysis exploring the impact of new professions (eg a physician associate) and new professional roles on patient experiences of and satisfaction with care. A sub set of data from a patient survey conducted as part of the MUNROS programme of work was used. The overall survey aim was to describe and quantify the use of new professionals and new roles for established health care professionals other than medical doctors, in primary and secondary care sectors in three care pathways in nine European countries Ordered logit models were used to investigate the association between: (1) patient satisfaction with the last visit; (2) with their care provider; (3) with the information provided and a set of covariates explaining the involvement of new professional roles in three clinical pathways: type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer. For patients with breast cancer, high levels of satisfaction are associated with the involvement of new professions/professional roles in the provision of conditions specific education and monitoring. For patients with heart disease, the involvement of new professions/professional roles is likely to have a negative impact on satisfaction. For patients with Type 2 diabetes results are ambivalent. Patients belonging to countries experiencing innovative models of healthcare delivery and with high levels of involvement of new professions/professional roles are generally more satisfied. In conclusion, the introduction of new professions does not affect patient satisfaction negatively, therefore introducing new health professional roles is a pursuable strategy from a patient satisfaction perspective, at least for breast cancer and type 2 diabetes.