PMID: 9420586Jan 8, 1998Paper

Utilization of specialty and primary care: the impact of HMO insurance and patient-related factors

The Journal of Family Practice
C M Clancy, P Franks

Abstract

Appropriate utilization of primary and specialty care has stimulated substantial debate, but the portion of the discussion focused on policies that restrict or discourage direct access to specialists has been largely uninformed by empirical analysis. Using data from the National Ambulatory Care Survey (1985 to 1992 surveys), we examined the associations of patient and physician demographics and health maintenance organization (HMO) insurance status with the utilization of primary compared with specialty care. Office visits for adult patients seen by primary care physicians and specialists were analyzed for: (1) patient-initiated utilization of specialists (patient self-referral) compared with that of primary care physicians; and (2) utilization of specialists compared with that of primary care physicians, stratified by HMO insurance status. After multivariate adjustment, patient self-referral was less likely among black patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59 to 0.76), self-pay (AOR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.74 to 0.88), or patients with Medicaid (AOR = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.43 to 0.61). The proportion of non-HMO patients seeing specialists remained stable (44.9%). For HMO patients, the proportion of...Continue Reading

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