One way the PCMH may increase preventive services

January 01, 0001

One way the PCMH may increase preventive services

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) has been held up as a model for primary care. These US researchers examined whether it provides preventative services benefits through increased access to appointments and telephone advice (first contact access). They performed a secondary analysis of data the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study on 5507 adults who were in ongoing continuing care from physicians.

The researchers found: "Eighteen percent of the sample received care with first-contact access. In multivariable analyses, after adjustment, individuals who had first-contact access had higher odds of having received a prostate examination (odds ratio {OR}, 1.62), a flu shot (OR, 1.36), and a cholesterol test (OR, 1.36) during the past year. There was no significant difference in receipt of mammograms (OR, 1.23)."

The researchers concluded: "In the primary care home, first- contact accessibility adds benefit, beyond continuity of care with a physician, in improving receipt of preventive services. Amid increasing primary care demands and finite resources available to translate the PCMH into clinic settings, there is a need for further studies of the interplay between specific PCMH principles and how they perform in practice."

Elements of the PCMH may increase provision of preventive services


For the full abstract, click here.

The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 24(4):351-359, July 2011 © 2011 American Board of Family Medicine
Preventive Service Gains from First Contact Access in the Primary Care Home. Nancy Pandhi, Jennifer E. DeVoe, Jessica R. Schumacher, et al. Correspondence to Nancy Pandhi: [email protected]

Category: HSR. Health Services Research. Keywords: PCMH, preventive services, access, first contact, immunizations, longitudinal study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 9 August 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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