The First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Changes in Preventive Services in Community Health Centers.

INTRODUCTION: Community Health Centers provide comprehensive primary healthcare services to many underserved populations. It is unknown how routine preventive and chronic care services in Community Health Centers may have changed nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The 2014-2020 Health Resources and Services Administration Uniform Data System of Community Health Centers was used, and data analysis was conducted from November 2021 to May 2022. Data for clinical quality measures in 2020 were treated as during the pandemic, whereas receipt of care in 2019 and before were treated as before the pandemic. Outcomes included 6 clinical quality measures of being up to date for colorectal cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, tobacco screening and cessation counseling, BMI screening and follow-up, depression screening and follow-up, and aspirin use for ischemic vascular disease. A mixed effects regression model was used to estimate changes in measures by year. RESULTS: Between 2019 and 2020, receipt of preventive services declined for each of the 6 clinical quality measures: from 40.8% to 37.7% for colorectal cancer screening, from 48.8% to 44.9% for cervical cancer screening, from 85.8% to 83.4% for tobacco screening and cessation counseling, from 70.7% to 65.4% for BMI screening and follow-up, from 71.1% to 64.9% for depression screening and follow-up, and from 81.5% to 79.4% for aspirin use for ischemic vascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Receipt of preventive services in Community Health Centers declined during the COVID-19 pandemic for each of the 6 clinical quality measures considered in the study. Immediate action is required to support ongoing high-quality, primary healthcare services in Community Health Centers across the nation.

Cost, utilization, and quality of care: an evaluation of illinois' medicaid primary care case management program.

PURPOSE: In 2006, Illinois established Illinois Health Connect (IHC), a primary care case management program for Medicaid that offered enhanced fee-for-service, capitation payments, performance incentives, and practice support. Illinois also implemented a complementary disease management program, Your Healthcare Plus (YHP). This external evaluation explored outcomes associated with these programs. METHODS: We analyzed Medicaid claims and enrollment data from 2004 to 2010, covering both pre- and post-implementation. The base year was 2006, and 2006-2010 eligibility criteria were applied to 2004-2005 data to allow comparison. We studied costs and utilization trends, overall and by service and setting. We studied quality by incorporating Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures and IHC performance payment criteria. RESULTS: Illinois Medicaid expanded considerably between 2006 (2,095,699 full-year equivalents) and 2010 (2,692,123). Annual savings were 6.5% for IHC and 8.6% for YHP by the fourth year, with cumulative Medicaid savings of $1.46 billion. Per-beneficiary annual costs fell in Illinois over this period compared to those in states with similar Medicaid programs. Quality improved for nearly all metrics under IHC, and most prevention measures more than doubled in frequency. Medicaid inpatient costs fell by 30.3%, and outpatient costs rose by 24.9% to 45.7% across programs. Avoidable hospitalizations fell by 16.8% for YHP, and bed-days fell by 15.6% for IHC. Emergency department visits declined by 5% by 2010. CONCLUSIONS: The Illinois Medicaid IHC and YHP programs were associated with substantial savings, reductions in inpatient and emergency care, and improvements in quality measures. This experience is not typical of other states implementing some, but not all, of these same policies. Although specific features of the Illinois reforms may have accounted for its better outcomes, the limited evaluation design calls for caution in making causal inferences.

Factors influencing family physicians' contribution to the child health care workforce.

PURPOSE: We wanted to explore demographic and geographic factors associated with family physicians' provision of care to children. METHODS: We analyzed the proportion of family physicians providing care to children using survey data collected by the American Board of Family Medicine from 2006 to 2009. Using a cross-sectional study design and logistic regression analysis, we examined the association of various physician demographic and geographic factors and providing care of children. RESULTS: Younger age, female sex, and rural location are positive predictors of family physicians providing care to children: odds ratio (OR) = 0.97 (95% CI, 0.97-0.98), 1.19 (1.12-1.25), and 1.50 (1.39-1.62), respectively. Family physicians practicing in a partnership are more likely to provide care to children than those in group practice: OR = 1.53 (95% CI, 1.40-1.68). Family physicians practicing in areas with higher density of children are more likely to provide care to children: OR = 1.04 (95% CI, 1.03-1.05), while those in high-poverty areas are less likely 0.10 (95% CI, 0.10-0.10). Family physicians located in areas with no pediatricians are more likely to provide care to children than those in areas with higher pediatrician density: OR = 1.80 (95% CI, 1.59-2.01). CONCLUSIONS: Various demographic and geographic factors influence the likelihood of family physicians providing care to children, findings that have important implications to policy efforts aimed at ensuring access to care for children.

Trends in physician supply and population growth.

The physician workforce has steadily grown faster than the U.S. population over the past 30 years, context that is often absent in conversations anticipating physician scarcity. Policy makers addressing future physician shortages should also direct resources to ensure specialty and geographic distribution that best serves population health .

Family physicians in the maternity care workforce: factors influencing declining trends.

Family physicians provide access to maternity care for a disproportionate share of rural and urban underserved communities. This paper aims to determine trends in maternity care provision by family physicians and the characteristics of family physicians that provide maternity care. We used American Board of Family Medicine survey data collected from every family physician during application for the Maintenance of Certification Examination to determine the percentage of family physicians that provided maternity care from 2000 to 2010. Using a cross-sectional study design, logistic regression analysis was performed to examine association between maternity care provision and various physician demographic and practice characteristics. Maternity care provision by family physicians declined from 23.3 % in 2000 to 9.7 % in 2010 (p < 0.0001). Family physicians who were female, younger and US medical graduates were more likely to practice maternity care. Practicing in a rural setting (OR = 2.2; 95 % CL 2.1-2.4), an educational setting (OR = 6.4; 95 % CL 5.7-7.1) and in either the Midwest (OR = 2.6; 95 % CL 2.3-2.9) or West (OR = 2.3; 95 % CL 2.1-2.6) were the strongest predictors of higher likelihood of providing maternity care. While family physicians continue to play an important role in providing maternity care in many parts of the United States, the steep decline in the percentage of family physicians providing maternity care is concerning. Formal collaborations with midwives and obstetrician-gynecologists, malpractice reform, payment changes and graduate medical education innovations are potential avenues to explore to ensure access to maternity care.

Proportion of family physicians providing maternity care continues to decline.

Family physicians traditionally have played an integral role in delivering babies as a component of the comprehensive care they provide for women. The proportion of family physicians who report providing any maternity care continues to decrease. This trend is particularly concerning because family physicians are the most widely distributed specialty and are essential to health care access in rural areas.

Declining numbers of family physicians are caring for children.

Despite continued growth of the primary care workforce, profound maldistribution persists among providers available for the care of children. Family physicians (FPs) spend, on average, approximately 10% of their total practice time caring for children; however, given that, among physician specialties, FPs are geographically distributed most evenly across the US population, the self-reported decline in the share of FPs caring for children should be disturbing to policymakers, especially with the looming insurance expansion in 2014.