Table 3.

Factors Affecting Completion of Primary Care Visits

All AgesAged 18 Years and Older Only
(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Telemedicine = 10.243***0.245***0.243***0.231***0.171***
(0.004)(0.004)(0.004)(0.007)(0.007)
New patient−0.033***−0.027***−0.029***−0.030***−0.028***
(0.005)(0.005)(0.005)(0.005)(0.004)
Primary care visit0.010***0.011***0.014***0.014***−0.067***
(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)
LACE/Risk score0.001***0.000***0.000−0.000−0.001***
(0.000)(0.000)(0.000)(0.000)(0.000)
Hospital admission risk−0.001***−0.001***
(0.000)(0.000)
Sex = Male−0.020***−0.020***−0.023***−0.023***−0.016***
(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)
Race = White0.014**0.012**0.010*0.010*0.006
(0.005)(0.006)(0.006)(0.006)(0.005)
Age, years−0.003***−0.001***
(0.000)(0.000)
Married0.0040.0050.035***0.035***0.037***
(0.004)(0.004)(0.003)(0.003)(0.003)
Distance in miles to the facility−0.001***−0.001***
(0.000)(0.000)
Persons aged older than 35 years but younger than 65 years = 10.0040.004−0.052***
(0.004)(0.004)(0.004)
Persons aged 65 years or older = 10.056***0.056***−0.040***
(0.005)(0.005)(0.005)
LACE score interacted with use of telemedicine0.001**
(0.000)
Persons aged older than 35 years but younger than 65 years interacted with use of telemedicine0.052***
(0.009)
Persons aged 65 years or older interacted with use of telemedicine0.013
(0.010)
Constant0.582***0.544***0.598***0.600***0.560***
(0.045)(0.047)(0.045)(0.045)(0.038)
Observations110,991105,988106,025106,025106,025
R-squared0.0370.0380.0360.0360.317
Adjusted R-squared0.03690.03810.03610.03620.316
  • *** P < .01,

  • ** P < .05,

  • * P < .1.

  • Models also control for whether the visit was on a weekday, the month of the visit, and community-level factors at the zip code level including the poverty rate, median household income, the unemployment rate, the percentage of persons with a bachelor's degree or higher and with a high school diploma. Model 5 also include diagnosis codes.

  • Robust standard errors in parentheses.

  • Abbreviations: LACE score, a readmission risk score based on hospital admission information, the Charlson Comorbidity index, and emergency department visits within the last 6 to 12 months.