Measuring and describing perceived quality on physiotherapy practice management software

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Physiotherapy Practice Management

Background:

• Physiotherapy clinics show slow adoption and low satisfaction with digital technologies like practice management software (PMS) and electronic health records.
• Perceived quality (PQ) measures user satisfaction based on expectation versus perception discrepancies.
• A validated instrument is needed to assess PQ of physiotherapy PMS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an instrument for measuring perceived quality (PQ) of physiotherapy practice management software (PMS).
• To describe the PQ of currently available physiotherapy PMS.

Main Methods:

• Instrument development study involving validity and reliability testing.
• Three phases: attribute identification, item pair development/pretesting, and pilot study for item reduction and psychometric testing.
• Questionnaire distributed to 144 chartered physiotherapists.

Main Results:

• A 24-item Quality Questionnaire on Physiotherapy Practice Management Software (PQ on PMS) was developed, structured into clinical care, administrative activities, and accounting.
• The questionnaire demonstrated reliability and validity with strong item-scale correlations and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.7).
• Analysis identified specific areas within clinical care and stock supply control with lower PQ.

Conclusions:

• A validated PQ questionnaire for physiotherapy PMS attributes (clinical care, administrative, accounting) has been developed.
• Physiotherapists reported lower PQ for clinical care functions and stock supply control.
• Improvements in clinical care functionalities are recommended to enhance satisfaction with physiotherapy PMS.