Whose satisfaction?
===================

* Brian Hutchison
* Truls Østbye
* Jan Barnsley

Lorne Verhulst appears to wish that we had conducted a different study. The Ontario Walk-In Clinic Study, of which our study1 was a part, was designed to examine the role and impact of walk-in clinics in Ontario. Accordingly, in selecting tracer conditions, we chose common acute conditions that are the bread and butter of walk-in clinic business. Although we agree that the patient population Verhulst identifies — those with chronic conditions and comorbidities — are an important target group for primary health care services, they are not a population that we would expect to be served either frequently or well by walk-in clinics. We would welcome and be open to collaborating in future research to identify models of primary health care delivery most suited to the needs of this important patient population.

**Brian Hutchison** Departments of Family Medicine and of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics McMaster University Hamilton, Ont. **Truls Østbye** Department of Community and Family Medicine Duke University Durham, NC **Jan Barnsley** Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto Toronto, Ont.

## Reference

1.  1. Hutchison B, Østbye T, Barnsley J, Stewart M, Mathews M, Campbell MK, et al. Patient satisfaction and quality of care in walk-in clinics, family practices and emergency departments: the Ontario Walk-In Clinic Study. CMAJ 2003; 168 (8):977-83. 
    
    [Abstract/FREE Full Text](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiY21haiI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo5OiIxNjgvOC85NzciO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoyMToiL2NtYWovMTY5LzEvMTUuMy5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=)