The Patient-Centered Medical Home: How Is It Related to Quality and Equity Among the General Adult Population?

Med Care Res Rev. 2016 Oct;73(5):606-23. doi: 10.1177/1077558715622913. Epub 2016 Feb 29.

Abstract

This study investigates whether patient-reported characteristics of the medical home are associated with improved quality and equity of preventive care, advice on health habits, and emergency department use. We used adjusted risk ratios to examine the association between medical home characteristics and care measures based on the 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Medical home characteristics are associated with 6 of the 11 outcome measures, including flu shots, smoking advice, exercise advice, nutrition advice, all advice, and emergency department visits. Educational and income groups benefit relatively equally from medical home characteristics. However, compared with insurance and access to a provider, medical home characteristics have little influence on overall disparities in care. In sum, our findings support that medical home characteristics can improve quality and reduce emergency visits but we find no evidence that medical home characteristics alleviate disparities in care.

Keywords: disparities; health care utilization; patient-centered medical home; primary care.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Emergency Service, Hospital / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Expenditures
  • Healthcare Disparities / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care
  • Patient-Centered Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Primary Health Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Quality Indicators, Health Care / statistics & numerical data*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires