Managing the quality of primary health care in urban China: The impact of organizational and physician features

Background: Global health care quality improvement efforts have focussed on management practices. However, knowledge in primary care settings, especially in developing countries, such as China, is lacking.

Objective: To examine the organizational and physician features associated with health care quality in China's community health centres (CHCs).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 224 primary care physicians (PCPs) in 38 CHCs in Jinan, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. Clinical and prevention care quality with a 5-level scale (1=never, 5=always) reported by the PCPs were used to measure the quality of care. Two-level hierarchical linear models were estimated to examine the organization and physician-level variables associated with primary care quality.

Results: The average clinical care quality score was 4.08 and 3.59 for preventative care out of 5. At the organizational level, organizational culture and organizational support were the strongest predictors of physician-reported quality of care. At the physician level, professional fulfilment, psychological safety, and organizational citizenship behaviour were positively associated with care quality.

Conclusions: Chinese CHCs clinical quality ranked high by PCPs, but the quality of preventative care provision required improvement. To improve primary care quality, managers of CHCs should implement optimal organizational structures, supportive organizational cultures, and strong organizational support at the organization level and cultivate high professional fulfilment, safe, and trustful relationships with colleagues at the physician level.