PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Shi, Leiyu
AU  - Lebrun-Harris, Lydie A.
AU  - Parasuraman, Sarika Rane
AU  - Zhu, Jinsheng
AU  - Ngo-Metzger, Quyen
TI  - The Quality of Primary Care Experienced by Health Center Patients
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2013.06.130062
DP  - 2013 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 768--777
VI  - 26
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/26/6/768.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/26/6/768.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2013 Nov 01; 26
AB  - 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-insured 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.