An Insider’s Guide to Constructing a Composite Measure of Primary Care Using Secondary Data

Quantitative analyses of secondary data are increasingly used to guide decision-making and inform policy in primary care. While single indicator items have predominated quantitative in primary care analyses, the process of combining indicator items into a single summary score (e.g., quality score) is increasingly used in health services research. Combining multiple indicator items into a single measure using a principled approach holds even greater potential to provide additional actionable insight. This case study provides an overview into the practicalities of how one such investigation using secondary data was carried out through the eyes of a recent PhD student.