Patient evaluation of infertility management in an ISO 9001:2008-certified centre for reproductive medicine

Quality management according to ISO 9001:2008 guidelines includes infertility care quality assessment and improvement. This study aimed to describe the development process of a questionnaire for infertility management. A literature review, qualitative interviews with experts and patients resulted in a content-valid and face-valid questionnaire. Three cross-sectional surveys were performed in 2004, 2007 and 2008 in a tertiary university infertility centre. First (2004), the questionnaire – measuring eight a-priori dimensions of infertility management – was tested. Second (2007), improvement projects for infertility management were evaluated. Third (2008), factor analysis was performed and internal consistency was documented. The developed patient questionnaire to evaluate infertility management and pre-set desired levels of agreement served to set targets for and assess quality improvement projects. The final patient questionnaire to evaluate infertility management within an ISO framework was valid and reliable and contained 14 items covering four dimensions of infertility management: Telephone Access, Reception, Information and Patient-centeredness. ISO 9001:2008-certified infertility centres can evaluate infertility management with this 14-item questionnaire. This top-down approach to evaluate the patients’ perspective on quality aspects selected by health professionals can be complementary to the bottom-up approach evaluating the patients’ complete experiences of quality of care.Quality assessment and improvement in infertility care are central concepts in quality management according to ISO 9001:2008 guidelines. This paper describes the development process of a questionnaire for infertility management. The questionnaire was constructed by conducting a literature review, qualitative interviews with experts and patients in order to obtain a content-valid and face-valid questionnaire. Three cross-sectional surveys were conducted at a tertiary university infertility centre. First (2004), the questionnaire – measuring eight a-priori dimensions of infertility management – was tested. Second (2007), improvement projects for infertility management were evaluated. Third (2008), psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated. The final patient questionnaire to evaluate infertility management within an ISO framework contained 14 items covering four dimensions of infertility management: Telephone Access, Reception, Information and Patient-centeredness. The patient questionnaire has been shown to be valid and reliable and can be used to set targets for and assess quality improvement projects. This top-down approach to evaluate the patients’ perspective on quality aspects selected by health professionals can be complementary to the bottom-up approach to evaluate the patients’ complete experiences of quality of care.