Patient-centered care: factors associated with reporting a positive experience at U.S. fertility clinics

The importance of meaningful measurement of psychological constructs in the evaluation of positive patient experiences in fertility care

“…I acknowledge that much of the data presented in this article is important to physicians and their treatment teams to understand patient experiences in the United States. My critique lies primarily in the conceptualization of what Shandley et al (1) note as modifiable physician characteristics, and this is where the study falls short in being able to report meaningful data. One of the studies cited in the article, a meta-analysis by Dancet et al ( 4), criticizes the general lack of qualitative data that can speak to patient experience, the primary methodological flaw across the 51 studies on patient experiences of fertility care included in their meta-analysis.…”

“…The article, ''Patient centered care: factors associated with reporting a positive experience at US fertility clinics'' (1), examines the responses of 7,456 female fertility patients to the Fertility IQ questionnaire (https://www.fertilityiq.com/). I would like to commend Shandley et al (1) on presenting important data, as there has been very limited research into this topic conducted in the United States. The article represents a good first step in identifying modifiable factors associated with a positive patient experience (PPE) at US fertility clinics.…”

“…The article represents a good first step in identifying modifiable factors associated with a positive patient experience (PPE) at US fertility clinics. However, I believe that Shandley et al (1) failed to incorporate some of the psychological methodologies described in their literature review, limiting their ability to draw conclusions about the more psychological variables of interest presented in their article.…”

“…One study reportedly serving as the foundation to some these hypotheses is Mourad et al (2), which, like the article by Shandley et al (1), sought to identify clinic and patient characteristics that contribute to overall patient experiences in fertility settings. In my opinion, Mourad et al (2) used a more meaningful data set, given the instruments used and the type of data collected.…”