Development of an attitudes toward health care teams scale

The authors describe the development and psychometric testing across three study phases of an Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale. The measure co ntains two subscales: Quality of Care/Process (14 items) and Physician Cent rality (6 items). The Quality of Care/Process subscale measures team member s' perceptions of the quality of care delivered by health care teams and th e quality of teamwork to accomplish this. The Physician Centrality subscale measures team members' attitudes toward physicians' authority in teams and their control over information about patients. Tests of reliability and va lidity demonstrate that each subscale is a strong measure of its respective underlying concept. The measure has potential for use as a research tool a nd as a pre- and posttest tool for educational interventions with teams and for evaluating clinically based team training programs for medical and hea lth professions students and residents.