New York, NY, June 27, 2007—Providing minority patients a "medical home" in which they have a regular doctor or health professional who oversees and coordinates their care would help eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities and promote more health care equity, says a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. The report, based on a 2006 survey of more than 2,830 adults, shows that linking minority patients with a health care setting that offers timely, well-organized care where they can routinely seek physicians and medical advice can help them better manage chronic conditions and obtain critical preventive care services.
According to the report, Closing the Divide: How Medical Homes Promote Equity in Health Care, in 2006 nearly one-half of Hispanics and more than one of four African Americans were uninsured at some point during the year. In contrast, 21 percent of whites and 18 percent of Asian Americans lacked coverage. In addition to being the groups most likely to go without health insurance, African Americans and Hispanics are least likely to have a regular doctor or source of care. While health insurance coverage is an important determinant of whether people can obtain essential care, the authors say insurance alone cannot eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health.
"Insurance coverage helps people gain access to health care, but the next thing you have to ask is 'access to what?'" says lead co-author Anne Beal, M.D., senior program officer at The Commonwealth Fund. "We found many disparities in care; however, disparities are not immutable. This survey shows if you can provide both insurance and access to a true medical home, racial and ethnic differences in getting needed medical care are often eliminated," she adds.
According to the report, patients have a medical home when they:
Although there are many places that are already functioning as models of such care, what most limited a health setting from being designated a medical home in this survey was the ability to dispense medical advice or care after hours or on weekends, according to the report. Only two-thirds of adults who have a regular provider or source of care report that it is easy to get care or medical advice after hours. Among all groups surveyed, Hispanics have the hardest time seeking care or advice after hours, and they are least likely to have a medical home.
The survey shows that, when they have a medical home, the vast majority of adults of all races say they can always get the care they need when they need it. Nearly three-quarters of adults with a medical home report getting the care they need compared with only 52 percent of those with a regular provider that is not a medical home and 38 percent of adults without any regular source of provider.
Key survey findings on the role of a medical home in eliminating health care disparities:
Promoting standards for the medical home through public reporting of performance and rewarding providers that meet these performance benchmarks would go a long way toward improving the way care is delivered and eliminating disparities, say Commonwealth Fund authors.
"We know the medical home is a promising model of care for narrowing health care disparities and providing patients with much higher quality care in terms of prevention and chronic disease management," says Fund Executive Vice President Stephen C. Schoenbaum, M.D. "Adopting policies to encourage practitioners to embrace this model would improve care for everyone, particularly those in safety net settings," he adds.
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International from May 30 through October 19, 2006. The survey consisted of 25-minute telephone interviews in English or Spanish among a random, nationally representative sample of 3,535 adults at least 18 years of age living in the continental United States. The report restricts the analysis to the 2,837 respondents ages 18–64. The sample was designed to target African American, Hispanic, and Asian households and it classifies adults by insurance status and annual income. The survey has an overall margin of sampling error of +/- 2.9 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
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