RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Primary care teams are facing an increased need to develop quality programmes at local level. GPs must lead this process and promote a positive organizational culture if they want to achieve and maintain a continuous improvement of the service. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to test the applicability and reliability of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model self-assessment questionnaire in a primary health care organization. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out of the EFQM questionnaire to compare the scores achieved by a primary health care team in Spain caring for 42 000 inhabitants using internal self-assessment with the scores achieved by professional management auditors through an external audit. RESULTS: The scores of each criterion achieved by self-evaluation are similar to or lower than those assessed by the external evaluation. There is agreement in the areas suitable for improvement. CONCLUSIONS: The experience proves the applicability of the EFQM excellence model for primary health care teams and its reliability, at least when the team undergoing self-assessment know they are going to be re-evaluated. There is high concordance in the identification of areas for improvement.