title: Is consistent primary care within a patient-centered medical home related to utilization patterns and costs?
abstract: The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is seen as an important vehicle for providing consistent primary care and achieving cost savings through care coordination. We used health plan administrative data to evaluate utilization and cost among enrollees who attended a PCMH compared with those who fragmented their care. Controlling for demographic differences, PCMH attendees made significantly fewer primary care and specialist visits than other groups, and associated professional fees were significantly lower than for enrollees receiving less consistent primary care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, USA. fonta002@umn.edu
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fontaine
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Flottemesch
authors.forename: Leif I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Asche
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult