Patient Satisfaction with the Annual Wellness Visit

OBJECTIVES - To determine patient satisfaction with the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) DESIGN – Survey SETTING- Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health PARTICIPANTS – 66 volunteers, average age 74 years MEASUREMENTS – Patient satisfaction was assessed with a 13 item survey. RESULTS - Of 1,537 eligible patients, 211 (14%) of these agreed to schedule their AWV. From 66 patients surveyed, 87% of patients said the visit “met expectations,” “would recommend to friends,” and “would do it again.” Only 5 (8%) were disappointed that new problems were not addressed and 2 (3%) were dissatisfied that physical exams and blood tests were not included. CONCLUSION- Our hypothesis that patients would not be satisfied with their visit was not supported. A benefit of the visit was that patients planned on following through with new recommendations. Future research should address the impact of a recommendation from primary care providers on patient acceptance of the AWV.