Racial/ethnic and geographic differences in access to a usual source of care that follows the patient-centered medical home model: Analyses from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data

Zo Ramamonjiarivelo, Texas State University-San MarcosFollow
Delawnia Comer-HaGans, Governors State UniversityFollow
Shamly Austin, Gateway HealthFollow
Karriem Watson, University of Illinois at ChicagoFollow
Alicia Kaye Matthews, University of Illinois at ChicagoFollow

Abstract

This study examined racial and geographic differences in access to a usual source of care (USC) and it further explored these differences among individuals who had a USC that followed the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model. Using cross-sectional data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008-2013), our sample consisted of non-institutionalized US civilians ages 18-85 (n= 146,233; weighted n = 229,487,016). Our analysis included weighted descriptive statistics and weighted logistic regressions. Although 76% of the respondents had a USC, only 11% of them had a USC that followed the PCMH model. Among respondents who had a USC that followed the PCMH model, 80% were White, 13% Black, 5% Asian, and 12% were of Hispanic ethnicity. Across U.S. regions, 88% percent of those who had a USC that followed the PCMH model resided in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), 22% resided in the West, 26% in the Northeast, 25% in the Midwest, and 27% in the South. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that race and ethnicity were not significant predictors of having a USC that followed the PCMH model. Northeastern U.S. residents (OR: 1.30; 95% CI:1.06-1.61) were more likely to have a USC that followed the PCMH model compared with southern residents. In conclusion, only a small percentage of respondents in our sample had a USC with the PCMH model. Further, race and ethnicity were not predictors of having a USC with the PCMH model.

Recommended Citation

Ramamonjiarivelo Z, Comer-HaGans D, Austin S, Watson K, Matthews AK. Racial/ethnic and geographic differences in access to a usual source of care that follows the patient-centered medical home model: Analyses from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data. Patient Experience Journal. 2018; 5(3):65-80. doi: 10.35680/2372-0247.1246.