Authors

  1. Gurewich, Deborah PhD
  2. Tyo, Karen R. MA, MSW
  3. Zhu, Junya MS
  4. Shepard, Donald S. PhD

Abstract

Objective: To determine how Community Health Centers (CHCs) perform relative to other primary care providers.

 

Research Design: A retrospective cohort study of Medicaid claims comparing provider groups on the basis of avoidable hospitalizations and costs.

 

Results: Avoidable hospitalization rates did not differ significantly across care settings. Hospital outpatient departments and CHCs had comparable total costs, whereas physicians had slightly but significantly lower total costs.

 

Conclusions: Understanding determinants of care cost differences could inform future performance improvement initiatives. Care quality variance within provider groups may be more significant than care quality performance across care settings.