Separate But Not Equal? A Cross-Sectional Study of Segregation by Payor Mix in Academic Primary Care Clinics

BACKGROUND

At some US Academic Health Centers (AHCs), patients with predominantly Medicaid insurance are seen in one clinic and patients with other insurance are seen in another. The extent of this practice and implications are unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the proportion of AHCs that have at least two primary care internal medicine clinics that differ substantially in proportion of patients with Medicaid and to compare patient demographic, staffing, and operational features.

PARTICIPANTS

General internal medicine chiefs and clinic directors at 40 randomly selected US AHCs plus the top 10 AHCs in terms of NIH funding.

MAIN MEASURE

An AHC was classified as maintaining clinics that differed substantially in the proportion of patients with Medicaid if any two differed by ≥ 40% (absolute). Other criteria were used for pre-specified secondary analyses (e.g., ≥ 30%).

KEY RESULTS

Thirty-nine of 50 AHCs (78%) participated. Four of 39 (10%; 95% CI, 3 to 24%) had two clinics differing by ≥ 40% in the proportion of patients with Medicaid, eight (21%; 95% CI, 9 to 36%) had clinics differing by ≥ 30%, and 15 (38%; 95% CI, 23 to 55%) had clinics differing by ≥ 20%. Clinics with more patients with Medicaid by any of the three criteria were more likely to employ resident physicians as providers of longitudinal care (with faculty supervision) and more likely to have patients who were Black or Hispanic.

CONCLUSIONS

Some US AHCs maintain separate clinics defined by the proportion of patients with Medicaid. Clinics with a higher proportion of patients insured by Medicaid are more likely to employ residents (with faculty oversight), feature residents as providers of longitudinal care, and serve patients who are Black and Hispanic. Further research is needed to understand why some AHCs have primary care clinics distinguishable by insurance mix with the goal of ensuring that racism and discrimination are not root causes.

Feasibility of computerized clinical decision support for pediatric to adult care transitions for patients with special healthcare needs

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a computerized clinical decision support (cCDS) tool to facilitate referral to adult healthcare services for children with special healthcare needs. A transition-specific cCDS was implemented as part of standard care in a general pediatrics clinic at a tertiary care academic medical center. The cCDS alerts providers to patients 17-26 years old with 1 or more of 15 diagnoses that may be candidates for referral to an internal medicine adult transition clinic (ATC). Provider responses to the cCDS and referral outcomes (e.g. scheduled and completed visits) were retrospectively analyzed using descriptive statistics. One hundred and fifty-two patients were seen during the 20-month observation period. Providers referred 87 patients to the ATC using cCDS and 77% of patients ≥18 years old scheduled a visit in the ATC. Transition-specific cCDS tools are feasible options to facilitate adult care transitions for children with special healthcare needs.

Musculoskeletal Basics: The Shoulder and the Knee Workshop for Primary Care Residents

Introduction

Although musculoskeletal (MSK) complaints are very common in ambulatory clinics, internal medicine residents report low confidence in performing MSK examinations and intra-articular steroid injections. Our goal is to strengthen residents' MSK competence by using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic educational modalities during an academic half-day session.

Methods

Our intervention was a workshop/academic half-day session that included multimodal educational materials on common shoulder and knee MSK complaints. The intervention featured a PowerPoint presentation highlighting three areas of MSK education: history taking, physical examination, and procedural skills. The curriculum contained a novel interactive charades game in which competitors demonstrated joint exams, an engaging anatomy quiz, and the performance of knee and subacromial bursae injections using interactive models and educational videos.

Results

The effectiveness of our session was measured using a pre- and postsurvey. In our 2017 resident survey to determine the level of comfort in performing knee and shoulder physical examination and intra-articular injections, the majority of respondents perceived themselves as inadequately trained. After the session, confidence in performing knee and shoulder examinations and in performing knee and subacromial bursae injections increased significantly. In addition, 100% of the residents who attended and evaluated the session either agreed or strongly agreed that the experience improved MSK knowledge and employed effective teaching strategies.

Discussion

The workshop/academic half-day session positively enhanced residents' perception of their knowledge of MSK medicine and their ability to perform joint injections.

The digital divide at an urban community health center: implications for quality improvement and health care access

Health care policy encourages better electronic connectivity between patient and the office practice. However, whether patients are able to partner with the practice in using communication technologies is not known. We sought to determine (1) the proportion of clinic patients who use internet and cell phone text messaging technologies, (2) the level of patient interest in using these technologies for the purpose of managing clinical appointments and patient education. Consecutive adult patients, clinicians and staff at an urban community health center were surveyed during a one-week period in order to estimate the frequency of technology use by patients. A total of 308 survey cards were collected during the designated week (response rate of 85% (308/362). One-third (34.0%, 105) of surveyed patients used the internet and text messaging daily or weekly, while nearly two-thirds (59.7%, 182) never used these technologies. There were no racial or gender differences in the proportion of patients who used the internet daily or weekly. In contrast, African-Americans used text messaging more often than whites (28.2 vs. 21.4%, P < .05), and females more than males (30.8 vs. 18.5%, P < .05). Younger patients (>50) used the internet and text messaging more often than older patients (50.6 vs. 16.6%, 44.3 vs. 7.3%, respectively). Despite the low use of both technologies, patient's interest in managing clinic appointments was high (40.3% for the Internet and 56.8% for text messaging). Clinicians and staff estimated patient's daily/weekly use of internet and cellphone messaging at 40.3% (± 22.0), and 56.8% (± 25.7), respectively. Most patients at this urban community health center reported never using the internet or cell phone text messaging. Clinicians overestimated technology use by patients. Planning for clinic infrastructure, quality improvement, and patient education should include assessment of technology use patterns by patients.