title: HMOs' consumer-friendliness and preventive health care utilization: exploratory findings from the 2002 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
abstract: Research should move beyond the simple dichotomy between HMO and non-HMO care provision, and embrace the multidimensional aspects of HMOs. Doing so, we argue, helps address the issue of HMO performance. We used a consumer-centered approach to distinguish multiform HMOs and asked the questions, "Do HMOs differ in their consumer-friendly characteristics?" and if so, "Are these characteristics associated with different preventive health care utilization outcomes?" In this exploratory study, the consumer-friendly characteristics of both Medicaid HMOs and private HMOs were examined in relationship to consumers' utilization of preventive care services. HMOs did differ in their consumer-friendly characteristics, and some of these characteristics were significantly associated with the utilization of preventive care services.
authors.affiliation: West Texas A&M University, USA.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Grant T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Savage
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008875:Middle Aged; D017146:Models, Organizational; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States