Examining the Link Between Diabetes Outcomes and Patient Experiences Within Vulnerable Populations

Award Amount: $129,248
Approval Date: November 14, 2007
Start Date: July 1, 2008
End Date: June 30, 2009
Regents of the University of California
San Francisco General Hospital
1001 Potrero Avenue, Ward 13
San Francisco, California 94110
Principal Investigator: Alicia Fernandez, M.D., and Hilary Seligman, M.D., M.S.

With Fund support, a survey instrument developed to capture the care experiences of minority and low-income patients—the Patient Assessments of Cultural Competency (PACC)—is currently undergoing testing with a sample of health plan enrollees. This project will expand the scope of an already funded study of diabetes patients at large safety net hospitals in San Francisco and Chicago to test the validity of PACC with a more socioeconomically diverse population of both insured and uninsured patients. The investigators aim to determine how these patients' diabetes outcomes are affected by care experiences, and what the risk factors are for having substandard experiences. The Russell Sage Foundation will cofund the project.