Does managed care restrictiveness affect the perceived quality of primary care? A report from ASPN. Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network

BACKGROUND: The competitive managed care marketplace is causing increased restrictiveness in the structure of health plans. The effect of plan restrictiveness on the delivery of primary care is unknown. Our purpose was to examine the association of the organizational and financial restrictiveness of managed care plans with important elements of primary care, the patient-clinician relationship, and patient satisfaction. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 15 member practices of the Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network selected to represent diverse health care markets. Each practice completed a Managed Care Survey to characterize the degree of organizational and financial restrictiveness for each individual health care plan. A total of 199 managed care plans were characterized. Then, 1475 consecutive outpatients completed a patient survey that included: the Components of Primary Care Instrument as a measure of attributes of primary care; a measure of the amount of inconvenience involved with using the health care plan; and the Medical Outcomes Study Visit Rating Form for assessing patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Clinicians' reports of inconvenience were significantly associated (P < .001) with the financial and organizational restrictiveness scores of the plan. There was no association between plan restrictiveness and patient report of multiple aspects of the delivery of primary care or patient satisfaction with the visit. CONCLUSIONS: Plan restrictiveness is associated with greater perceived hassle for clinicians but not for patients. Plan restrictiveness seems to be creating great pressures for clinicians, but is not affecting patients' reports of the quality of important attributes of primary care or satisfaction with the visit. Physicians and their staffs appear to be buffering patients from the potentially negative effects of plan restrictiveness.     

Does the presence of medical students affect quality in general practice consultations?

Context  Previous studies have suggested that the patient's experience of a consultation with a doctor is not affected by the presence of medical students. However, no study has looked at the effect of student presence on conventional UK general practice consultations.
Objectives  This study aimed to measure the quality of the consultation as experienced by patients when students are present, to explore patients' attitudes to the presence of medical students, and to look at the relationships between these factors.
Methods  We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study in general practices in north-east England. General practitioners (GPs) from practices teaching fourth and final year students administered questionnaires to patients who were seen in either teaching or non-teaching consultations. The questionnaire comprised previously validated measures of empathy and enablement as measures of quality, attitudinal statements regarding the presence of students, a scale rating pertaining to the patient's degree of acquaintance with the doctor, and items on demographic data.
Results  Results showed no significant differences in enablement scores between the 2 groups. Consultations with student presence last longer. Empathy scores were significantly lower in the 'student present' group, but the size of the difference was small. Attitudinal statements regarding the presence of students showed a high proportion of positive responses, and some groupings of negative ones. Further analysis demonstrated some significant links between attitudinal statements and enablement and empathy scores.
Conclusions  The quality of general practice consultations was not adversely affected by medical student presence. However, significant numbers of patients who agreed to be seen with a student present were resistant to the student's presence.     

Does career dissatisfaction affect the ability of family physicians to deliver high-quality patient care?

OBJECTIVES: A usual source of care is associated with better health outcomes. Dissatisfaction among family physicians and general practitioners (FP/GPs) may compromise the accessibility of a usual source of care and the quality of services. We examined the association between FP/GP dissatisfaction and an inability to deliver high-quality care. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a secondary data analysis of the Community Tracking Study (CTS) Physician Survey (1996-1997). POPULATION: The study included a nationally representative sample of more than 12,000 nonfederal physicians practicing direct patient care in the United States. OUTCOMES MEASURED: We measured associations of career dissatisfaction with physicians&rsquo perceptions of their ability to provide high-quality care as defined by 6 survey items. Multivariate analyses controlled for the effects of personal, professional, and practice characteristics. RESULTS: Among FP/GPs in 1996-1997, more than 17% were dissatisfied. Age was the most significant personal factor associated with dissatisfaction; 25.1% of those aged 55 to 64 years reported dissatisfaction compared with only 10.1% of those younger than 35 years. Other personal or professional characteristics significantly associated with FP/GP dissatisfaction included osteopathic training, graduation from a foreign medical school, full practice ownership, and an income of less than $100,000. Physicians dissatisfied with their careers were much more likely to report difficulties in caring for patients, strongly disagreeing (vs strongly agreeing, odds ratio [OR] 1.0) that they had enough clinical freedom (OR 7.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.86-12.83); continuous patient relationships (OR 7.11; 95% CI, 4.90-10.33); no financial penalties for clinical decisions (OR 4.44; 95% CI, 3.13-6.31); adequate time with patients (OR 4.42; 95% CI, 2.84-6.87); ability to provide quality care (OR 4.26; 95% CI, 2.88-6.31); and sufficient communication with specialists (OR 3.57; CI, 2.20-5.80). CONCLUSIONS: An inability to care for patients is significantly associated with career dissatisfaction. This relationship has implications for the achievement of policy objectives related to access, having a usual source of care, and quality.     

Does uninsurance affect the health outcomes of the insured? Evidence from heart attack patients in California

In this paper, I examine the impact of uninsured patients on the in-hospital mortality rate of insured heart attack patients. I employ panel data models using patient discharge and hospital financial data from California (1999-2006). My results indicate that uninsured patients have an economically significant effect that increases the mortality rate of insured heart attack patients. I show that these results are not driven by alternative explanations, including reverse causality, patient composition effects, sample selection or unobserved trends and that they are robust to a host of specification checks. The primary channel for the observed spillover effects is increased hospital uncompensated care costs. Although data limitations constrain my capacity to check how hospitals change their provision of care to insured heart attack patients in response to reduced revenues, the evidence I have suggests a modest increase in the quantity of cardiac services without a corresponding increase in hospital staff.     

Does the availability of hospital beds affect utilization patterns? The case of end-of-life care.

Hospital downsizing in Canada during the 1990s raised public concern over the availability of hospital care, in addition to heightening administrative interest in improving or maximizing hospital utilization. One ongoing concern about hospital utilization is that a disproportionately large share of hospital resources is used by terminally ill and dying people. A research study using 1992/1993-1996/1997 in-patient abstracts data for the province of Alberta, Canada, was undertaken to explore and describe hospital utilization by dying in-patients. This investigation found only 48.2% of all deaths in Alberta over the five years studied involved hospital in-patients. An 18.5% reduction in the number of in-patient deaths and an 83.3% reduction in length of final stay occurred when 50% of acute care beds were closed, which was followed by an increase when beds began reopening--in terms of both the number of in-patient deaths (4.8%) and the average length of stay (2.6%). The ratio of men to women, the average age of dying in-patients, and the intensity of hospital care changed relatively little over those five years. Most in-patients were admitted for nursing care; in 51.3% of all cases, no diagnostic or therapeutic procedures were performed prior to death. These findings indicate hospital bed availability influences admission to hospital and length of stay, but not treatment decisions affecting seriously ill and dying patients. In addition, reduced length of stay appears to have been a widespread response to hospital downsizing, with this change substantially preserving individual access to hospitals.     

Does patients’ experience of general practice affect the use of emergency departments? Evidence from Australia

AS Emergency Department (ED) attendances have been growing rapidly, various strategies have been employed in Australia to improve access to General Practitioner (GP) care, particularly after normal working hours, in order to reduce the demand for ED. However, there has been little attention paid to the quality of GP care and whether that influences ED attendances. This paper investigates whether ED use is affected by patients’ experience of GP care, using the logit model to analyse data from a survey of Australian consumers (1758 individuals). Not surprisingly, we find that people with poor health status and a greater number of chronic conditions are more likely to visit the ED. We also find that, after correcting for health status and sociodemographic factors, patients with a better GP experience are less likely to visit the ED. This suggests that policies aimed at improving the quality of primary care are also important in reducing unplanned hospital use.     

Can you measure the quality of this life? Interview by Lauren M. Walker

The value and application of quality of life measurements in evaluating health care remain difficult to determine and controversial. Can quality of life be measured in a meaningful way? Can improved quality of life be connected to productivity improvements or other cost factors? We talked to two of the liveliest (and most opinionated) researchers in the field of quality of life outcomes assessment. Paul C. Langley, PhD, is currently employed by 3M Pharmaceuticals as U.S. and international manager of health economics. Before that, he was director of the Program in Pharmaceutical Economics and Health Systems Research at the University of Colorado. Marcia A. Testa, MPH, PhD, is a senior lecturer in biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health and a consultant with Phase V Technologies Inc., a firm that assists health care organizations in outcomes trials. Here are their thoughts on the state of the art.     

Does the addition of information on genotype improve prediction of the risk of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer beyond that obtained from skin phenotype?

The authors quantified improvement in predicting cutaneous malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin made possible by information on common variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R) in a 1998-1999 population-based case-control study of subjects aged 20-59 years of northern European ancestry in Tasmania, Australia. Melanin density at the upper inner arm was estimated by spectrophotometry. DNA samples were genotyped for five MC1R variants: Val60Leu, Asp84Glu, Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, and Asp294His. Among controls (n = 267), variant carriers, versus noncarriers, had lower (p < 0.01) mean melanin concentrations. Increased risk conferred by genotype was restricted mainly to those with the darkest skins: for subjects with at least 2% melanin, the odds of carrying each additional variant were higher for cutaneous malignant melanoma (n = 39; odds ratio = 1.45, 95% confidence interval: 0.87, 2.44), basal cell carcinoma (n = 35; odds ratio = 1.86, 95% confidence interval: 1.14, 3.02), and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 42; odds ratio = 2.67, 95% confidence interval: 1.50, 4.74) cases than for controls (n = 135). Adding MC1R information to prediction based on age, sex, and cutaneous melanin increased the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve by 1.4% (cutaneous malignant melanoma), 3.2% (basal cell carcinoma), or 2.0% (squamous cell carcinoma). The improvement in prediction was probably too small to be valuable in a clinical setting.     

What’s at stake? Genetic information from the perspective of people with epilepsy and their family members

Substantial progress has been made in identifying genes that raise risk for epilepsy, and genetic testing for some of these genes is increasingly being used in clinical practice. However, almost no empirical data are available from the perspective of people with epilepsy and their family members about the impact of genetic information and potential benefits and harms of genetic testing. To address this gap we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 40 individuals (22 with epilepsy, 18 unaffected) in the USA from families containing multiple affected individuals who had participated in epilepsy genetics research. The interviews were coded and analyzed using the principles of grounded theory. Several major themes emerged from these interviews. Participants expressed "personal theories of inheritance" that emphasized commonalities among relatives and the idea that disease risk is most shared by family members who share physical or personality traits. Most participants said they would have genetic testing if it were offered. They cited many potential benefits, including learning what caused epilepsy in their family, being better able to care and advocate for children at risk, reducing guilt and blame, providing an increased sense of control, and relieving anxiety in unaffected individuals who test negative. The influence of genetic information on reproduction was a particularly salient theme. Although respondents believed genetic testing would be useful for informing their reproductive choices, they also expressed fear that it could lead to external pressures to modify these choices. Other concerns about the potential negative impact of genetic information included increased blame and guilt, increased stigma and discrimination in employment and insurance, self-imposed limitations on life goals, and alterations in fundamental conceptions of "what epilepsy is." Consideration of the perspectives of people with epilepsy and their family members is critical to understanding the implications of contemporary epilepsy genetic research and testing.     

Does the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness cost more than routine care? Results from the United Republic of Tanzania.

OBJECTIVE: The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy is designed to address the five leading causes of childhood mortality, which together account for 70% of the 10 million deaths occurring among children worldwide annually. Although IMCI is associated with improved quality of care, which is a key determinant of better health outcomes, it has not yet been widely adopted, partly because it is assumed to be more expensive than routine care. Here we report the cost of IMCI compared with routine care in four districts in the United Republic of Tanzania. METHODS: Total district costs of child care were estimated from the societal perspective as the sum of child health-care costs incurred in a district at the household level, primary health-facility level and hospital level. We also included administrative and support costs incurred by national and district administrations. The incremental cost of IMCI is the difference in costs of child health-care between districts with and without IMCI, after standardization for population size. FINDINGS: The annual cost per child of caring for children less than five years old in districts with IMCI was USD 11.19, 44% lower than the cost in the districts without IMCI (USD 16.09). Much of the difference was due to higher rates of hospitalization of children less than 5 years old in the districts without IMCI. Not all of this difference can be attributed to IMCI but even when differences in hospitalization rates are excluded, the cost per child was still 6% lower in IMCI districts. CONCLUSION:IMCI was not associated with higher costs than routine child health-care in the four study districts in the United Republic of Tanzania. Given the evidence of improved quality of care in the IMCI districts, the results suggest that cost should not be a barrier to the adoption and scaling up of IMCI.     

Will lowering population levels of serum cholesterol affect total mortality? Expectations from the Honolulu Heart Program.

Major campaigns now underway to reduce the serum cholesterol levels of entire national populations have not given serious consideration to the high rates of noncardiovascular disease and death associated with low cholesterol levels (less than 190 mg/dl). To explore this problem, the relationships between serum cholesterol levels, measured in 1965-1968 in 7478 Japanese American men in Hawaii, and subsequent total and cause-specific mortality through 1985, were analyzed by multivariate Cox regression to control for potential confounders. Total mortality rates for 1648 deaths showed a U-shaped curve by baseline cholesterol level, with significant inverse trends (p less than 0.03) for deaths due to hemorrhagic stroke, all cancer, benign liver disease, chronic obstructive lung disease and "unknown cause". Only the inverse trends for cancer and benign liver disease showed flattening when 227 deaths in the first 5 years of follow-up were deleted from the analysis. Simulation models using three different strategies of cholesterol reduction in this cohort revealed that none of these approaches had any substantial impact on predicted total mortality over 15 years. However, the population-based approach might theoretically increase mortality for 60% of the cohort with baseline cholesterol levels less than 225 mg/dl.     

Is success in postgraduate examinations associated with family practitioners' attitudes or patient perceptions of the quality of their consultations? A cross-sectional study of the MRCGP examination in Great Britain

BACKGROUND: Postgraduate examinations are ubiquitous in medicine worldwide, but studies to validate them are rare. The Royal College of General Practitioners of the UK, over the years in an evolving format, has offered a membership examination (MRCGP) which it believes acts as a quality marker for those who sit it and also positively influences the development of family practice generally. It is not clear, however, if this process identifies quality markers that patients can perceive. OBJECTIVES: To determine if possession of the MRCGP (a doctor defined measure of doctor quality) is associated with the patient enablement score (a patient based consultation outcome measure) and family practitioners' attitudes to the work of family practice. METHODS: Design: survey using the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) with linked survey data on family practitioner (FP) demography and possession of the MRCGP, and FPs' attitudes and beliefs using the Cockburn attitudinal questionnaire. Subjects: 15 534 adult patients attending 154 FP principals. Setting: 50 family practices in the UK. Outcome measures: the association between possession of MRCGP, and PEI and Cockburn scores was assessed using regression analysis controlling for known confounders. RESULTS: There was no association between PEI score and possession of the MRCGP. Only one scale of the Cockburn attitude questionnaire (the belief that patients should be involved in decision making) was positively associated with possessing the MRCGP. CONCLUSION: Any advantage in physician quality conferred by passing the MRCGP exam was not detected in this study. Further research into the predictive validity of postgraduate examinations is required preferably using a wider variety of patient and audit based methods.