Critical Synthesis Package: Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS)

Abstract

Abstract This Critical Synthesis Package contains: (1) a Critical Analysis of the psychometric properties and application to health sciences education for the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS), and (2) a copy of the PPOS instrument and the PPOS scoring key developed by Edward Krupat, PhD. The PPOS is a measure often used in health-communication research to assess patient and provider beliefs regarding patient-centeredness, and has been used in patient, pre-med student, medical student, and practicing physician samples. The current version contains 18 items, which can either be summed or divided into two factor scores. Summing the responses provides a range in which higher scores indicate a belief that the provider is patient-centered, while lower scores indicate a belief that the provider is doctor- or disease-centered. The scale can also be broken into two distinct factors: Sharing and Caring. The Sharing factor indicates a respondent's belief that the provider is oriented to share power in their medical-care relationship. The Caring factor indicates a respondent's belief that the provider is oriented to caring about the patient-provider relationship, the patient's emotions, and has interest in the patient and not simply the disease. Although it has been used in some non-English speaking samples, further cultural adaptations are recommended to increase the understanding of patient-centered medicine cross-culturally. In addition, as other disciplines become more engaged in traditional medical settings, evaluating the PPOS with other health science disciplines would be beneficial. Overall, the PPOS has been efficaciously validated and used in a variety of medical contexts.

Keywords

• Communication
• Orientation
• DREAM
• Directory and Repository of Educational Assessment Measures
• Physician-Patient Relations
• Patient-Centered Care