The new Patient-Reported Experience Measure in Primary Care (WHO-PREM-PC) is one of WHO’s latest developments, in collaboration with CRiHSP. This instrument aims to address the lack of globally standardised and comprehensive measures for patient experience, a long-standing gap in health service delivery.

The WHO-PREM-PC is a part of the WHO’s broader Health Systems Performance Assessment (HSPA) toolkit for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This collection of resources is designed to empower countries to effectively monitor and enhance their health system performance, particularly within primary health care (PHC), thereby bolstering efforts towards achieving UHC and global health security. The instrument is designed to capture patients’ own perceptions and observations of the care they receive. Structured around 8 key domains and 34 indicators, it measures the aspects of healthcare delivery that patients value most within integrated, people-centred health systems.

To ensure wide applicability, the tool is designed for flexible administration and can be deployed through telephone, face-to-face interviews, or as a self-administered digital survey. Two official versions have been published on the WHO website to serve differing measurement needs. The reference version is the most complete iteration, offering the strongest measurement properties for a thorough baseline assessment (Metrics and assessment tool, REFERENCE version). The rapid version serves as an efficient alternative for situations with limited time or resources, or for tracking progress over time (Metrics and assessment tool, RAPID version). To further support its adoption, a detailed implementation guide has also been developed to provide practical advice for users (Guidance for implementing the assessment). Currently, manuscripts are being prepared for publication that detail the tool’s development, psychometric evaluation, and country performances from pilot testing by the CRiHSP team.