Insurance coverage and residents' experience in a pediatric teaching clinic.
To examine the relationship between insurance coverage and the diagnostic content of residents' experience in a hospital-based pediatric teaching clinic, we analyzed outpatient problem lists for 6543 patients seen in our clinic over a 15-month period. Problem-list contents were categorized using diagnostic clusters. The frequency distribution of clustered problems was compared for patients with four types of insurance coverage: indemnity insurance, health maintenance organization, Medicaid, and no insurance. The four insurance categories differed in the overall distribution of problems, but the differences could not be attributed to a disparity in the frequency of any single diagnosis or diagnostic cluster. We conclude that there was no important effect of insurance coverage on the diagnostic content of residents' experience in a teaching clinic.
Wilton
R
R
Department of Pediatrics, UCLA.
Pennisi
A J
AJ
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015141:Los Angeles; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008501:Medical Records, Problem-Oriented; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education