title: Sickness absenteeism in members of health maintenance organizations and open-market health insurance plans.
abstract: "Process" evaluations of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), as compared with conventional medical practice, have been numerous; relatively few such evaluations, however, have been based on "outcome" measurements. Considering sickness absenteeism from work as an outcome measurements, this study examines the 1979 experience of 6,600 employees of the California Department of Transportation. About 58 per cent of these were enrolled in HMOs (predominantly the Kaiser-Permanente Health Plan) and 42 per cent in open-market health insurance (OHI). Analysis by age, sex, occupational category, and geographic location show no significant differences in sickness absenteeism between the two populations. A earlier study of Californians showed that persons joining HMOs have generally higher sickness risk than those enrolling in OHI programs. These combined findings suggest that HMO programs maintain the health of their enrollees as well or perhaps better than conventional medical practice.
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States