Measuring quality of adolescent preventive services of health plan enrollees and school-based health center users.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether quality of care provided to adolescents enrolled in a community-based managed care plan was better for those who also received some care at school-based health centers (SBHCs).


METHODS
The Young Adult Health Care Survey (YAHCS) was administered to 374 adolescents (commercially insured, Medicaid-insured, and SBHC users) to assess risk behaviors, provision of preventive screening and counseling, and quality of care.


RESULTS
SBHC users were most likely to report that their provider told them their discussions were confidential, and that they received screening/counseling on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, condom use, and birth control. Commercially insured adolescents were least likely to report discussion of sexual health issues. SBHC users had the highest mean YAHCS quality measure scores for screening/counseling on pregnancy/STDs, diet and exercise, and helpfulness of counseling provided; Medicaid-insured teens had the lowest scores on four of seven measures. Regression models controlled for demographics, use of screener, and site of care showed that use of a screener had a significant impact on six of seven quality measure models. Younger age predicted screening for risk behaviors; being female, African-American, and an SBHC user predicted screening on pregnancy/STDs.


CONCLUSIONS
SBHCs may increase adolescents' access to confidential care, and SBHC providers may be more likely than those in other settings to screen and counsel patients about sexual health. Overall quality of preventive care reported by commercially insured adolescents may be better in some health content areas and worse in others compared with care reported by Medicaid-insured youth and SBHC users.
Division of Adolescent Medicine, Strong Children's Research Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642, USA. jonathan_klein@urmc.rochester.edu
Jonathan D
JD
Klein
Lisa
L
Handwerker
Tracy S
TS
Sesselberg
Erika
E
Sutter
Erinn
E
Flanagan
Beth
B
Gawronski
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003219:Confidentiality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008484:Medicaid; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012572:School Health Services / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States