RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Interpersonal Primary Care Continuity for Chronic Conditions Is Associated with Fewer Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Among Medicaid Enrollees JF The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine JO J Am Board Fam Med FD American Board of Family Medicine SP 303 OP 312 DO 10.3122/jabfm.2022.220015R1 VO 36 IS 2 A1 Anne H. Gaglioti A1 Chaohua Li A1 Peter T. Baltrus A1 Zhaowei She A1 Megan D. Douglas A1 Miranda A. Moore A1 Arthi Rao A1 Lilly Cheng Immergluck A1 Turgay Ayer A1 Andrew Bazemore A1 George Rust A1 Dominic H. Mack YR 2023 UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/36/2/303.abstract AB Background: Interpersonal primary care continuity or chronic condition continuity (CCC) is associated with improved health outcomes. Ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSC) are best managed in a primary care setting, and chronic ACSC (CACSC) require management over time. However, current measures do not measure continuity for specific conditions or the impact of continuity for chronic conditions on health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to design a novel measure of CCC for CACSC in primary care and determine its association with health care utilization.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of continuously enrolled, nondual eligible adult Medicaid enrollees with a diagnosis of a CACSC using 2009 Medicaid Analytic eXtract files from 26 states. We conducted adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression models of the relationship between patient continuity status and emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, comorbidity, and rurality. We defined CCC for CACSC as at least 2 outpatient visits with any primary care physician for a CACSC in the year, and (2) more than 50% of outpatient CACSC visits with a single PCP.Results: There were 2,674,587 enrollees with CACSC and 36.3% had CCC for CACSC visits. In fully adjusted models, enrollees with CCC were 28% less likely to have ED visits compared with those without CCC (aOR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.71 – 0.72) and were 67% less likely to have hospitalization than those without CCC (aOR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.32-0.33).Conclusions: CCC for CACSCs was associated with fewer ED visits and hospitalizations in a nationally representative sample of Medicaid enrollees.