Associations between medical home characteristics and support for patient activation in the safety net: understanding differences by race, ethnicity, and health status.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated whether the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) supports patient activation and none have evaluated whether support for patient activation differs among racial and ethnic groups or by health status. This is critical because activation is lower on average among minority patients and those in poorer health. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between clinic PCMH characteristics and patient perception of clinic support for patient activation, and whether that association varies by patients' self-reported race/ethnicity or health status. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 214 providers/staff and 735 patients in 24 safety net clinics across 5 states. MEASURES: Provider/staff surveys produced a 0-100 score for PCMH characteristics. Patient surveys used the patient activation subscale of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care to produce a 0-100 score for patient perception of clinic support for patient activation. RESULTS: Across all patients, we did not find a statistically significant association between PCMH score and clinic support for patient activation. However, among the subgroup of minority patients in fair or poor health, a 10-point higher PCMH score was associated with a 14.5-point (CI, 4.4, 24.5) higher activation score. CONCLUSIONS: In a population of safety net patients, higher-rated PCMH characteristics were not associated with patients' perception of clinic support for activation among the full study population; however, we found a strong association between PCMH characteristics and clinic support for activation among minority patients in poor/fair health status. The PCMH may be promising for reducing disparities in patient activation for ill minority patients.