Creating the Individual Scope of Practice (I-SOP) scale

Research indicates that the scope of practice for primary care physicians has been shrinking (Tong, Makaroff, Xierali, Parhat, Puffer, Newton, et al., 2012; Xierali, Puffer, Tong, Bazemore, and Green, 2012; and Bazemore, Makaroff, Puffer, Parhat, Phillips, Xierali, et al., 2012) despite research showing that areas with robust primary care services have better population health outcomes at lower costs (Starfield, Shi, and Macinko, 2005). Examining issues related to the scope of practice for primary care physicians has wide-ranging implications for both patient health outcomes and related healthcare costs. This article describes the development and use of a scale intended to measure the breath of the individual physician’s scope of practice using 22 self-reported, dichotomous indicators obtained from a physician survey.