Comprehensive Pediatric Care: The Patient Viewpoint

Two meanings of the term comprehensive care are delineated. The first refers to a wide scope of health services, the second to a humanistic approach to the patient. Findings from a sample of patients from one pediatric practice suggest that the two meanings constitute two independent variables with respect to patient expectations. Patient responses to questions regarding their expectations of the pediatrician revealed a tendency to hold a traditional disease orientation. Comprehensive care as a broad scope of health services that included mother guidance in child rearing is not a common goal for mothers utilizing the pediatric practice under study. On the other hand, a comprehensive approach by the pediatrician is a standard shared by most respondents in the sample: high priority is accorded the pattern of the personal physician with whom a patient forms a continuous doctor-patient relationship which instills in the patient trust that the physician's recommendations are based on thorough knowledge of the patient as an individual.