This study examined the influence of physicians' and nurses' patient-centeredness on the satisfaction of African American female Medicaid patients. A multigroup structural equation modeling design was used to test the hypothesized model and its stability across national random test (Nt=98) and cross-validation (Ncv=296) samples. The model fit well. Physician and nurse patient-centeredness significantly and consistently influenced patient satisfaction, explaining 73% of its variance. One standardized deviation increase in physician patient-centeredness increased patient satisfaction, likelihood to recommend, and ratings of care by .698, .665, and .644 deviations. The corresponding effects for nursing were .643, .613, and .594. These effects were consistent across national random samples. The study offers an evidenced-based model that sheds light on provider patient-centered-ness' influence on African American female Medicaid patient satisfaction.
Keywords: disparities; multigroup structural equation modeling; patient-centeredness; primary provider theory.