A Community's Perceptions of Pediatric Social Outcomes in a Downsized Urban Hospital System

This article describes parental perceptions of pediatric services at Los Angeles County King/Drew Hospital and Medical Center after the hospital and its community clinics were restructured in the 1990s. Qualitative and quantitative measures are used to capture parental perceptions of service utilization, service convenience, and quality of care. The results are compared to hospital institutional operational data from patient flow analysis reports, appointment delay reports, and improving organizational performance committee reports. A comparison of parental perceptions of pediatric care is also made with findings from other post-devolution studies on access and quality of care at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. The implications of the findings for hospital quality assurance processes and health services outcomes research are discussed.