Survey of providers' awareness and implementation of the National Healthcare Improvement Initiative in China

Objective To gauge into provider's knowledge of and participation in the China Healthcare Improvement Initiative(the Initiative)and into factors for improvement quality of care. Methods The questionnaire was designed based on such dimensions as awareness of the Initiative, procedures and environment, patient centering and work efficiency.Doctors and nurses were randomly sampled from 136 tertiary hospitals in China's 31 provinces, and were surveyed with their awareness and implementation of the Initiative by means of descriptive and non-parameter test methods. Results 85.4% of the doctors and nurses surveyed knew about the Initiative being launched at their hospital.Over 97% of the subjects said they provided patient-centered care, as evidenced in strict observation of the checkup regulations and the hand-washing regulations before medical service; protection of patient's privacy, and patient's comforting.66.4% of them said to spend sufficient time in communicating with patients, as evidenced in 33.4% of the doctors communicating 10-20 minutes and 28.9% over 20 minutes for an average clinical encounter. Conclusions The Initiative is warmly embraced by medical institutions and providers at large, and " patient-centered" service is well implemented, yet further improvement is needed in such aspects as effective communication with patients. Key words: Healthcare Improvement Initiative; Medical workers; Awareness; Implementation