The quality of primary care experienced by health center patients

21Citations
Citations of this article
34Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Background: We investigated the quality of the primary care experienced by health center (HC) patients and investigated whether race/ethnicity and insurance coverage were significantly associated with patients' experiences. Methods: Cross-sectional data came from the 2009 Health Center Patient Survey. Outcomes included 10 measures of patients' experiences with primary care domains, including: (1) accessibility, (2) communication, (3) comprehensiveness, and (4) coordination of care. Results: Patients who received care at HCs reported high-quality primary care, particularly regarding accessibility and communication. For example, more than 94% of patients reported that their HC location was convenient, and more than 94% reported that their provider adequately explained what they wanted to know. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, few significant racial/ethnic and insurance-related disparities were observed. In the domains of comprehensiveness and coordination, insured patients generally had better experiences than uninsured patients. For instance, Medicaid-in-sured patients had higher odds of reporting that HC staff helped them arrange medical appointments at other health care settings than uninsured patients (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-3.09). Conclusions: As safety-net providers for vulnerable populations, HCs provide high-quality primary care and do not exhibit the extent of disparities that exist in other US health care settings. Continued efforts are necessary to address insurance-related disparities, particularly among uninsured patients.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Shi, L., Lebrun-Harris, L. A., Parasuraman, S. R., Zhu, J., & Ngo-Metzger, Q. (2013). The quality of primary care experienced by health center patients. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 26(6), 768–777. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2013.06.130062

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free