Quality of Care for Uninsured Patients With Diabetes in a Rural Area
- Deborah S. Porterfield, MD, MPH12 and
- Linda Kinsinger, MD, MPH3
- 1Diabetes Control Branch, North Carolina Division of Public Health, Raleigh, North Carolina
- 2Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- 3Departments of Medicine and Social Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Abstract
OBJECTIVE—We compared quality of care for uninsured patients with diabetes in private physician offices and community/migrant health centers (C/MHCs).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We conducted a cross-sectional medical record review in a convenience sample of eight physician offices and three C/MHC sites in rural North Carolina. Billing systems generated lists of self-pay patients with diabetes. Abstraction of the medical records (n = 142) yielded data on process and intermediate outcome measures of diabetes care, which were derived from the Diabetes Quality Improvement Project.
RESULTS—Medical records of patients in C/MHCs demonstrated higher rates on four of six process measures of quality of care, including measurement of HbA1c (98 vs. 75%; P < 0.001), cholesterol (82 vs. 51%; P < 0.001), and urine protein (90 vs. 25%; P < 0.001). Nonsignificant trends in documented eye examinations and the intermediate outcome of blood pressure control were found in medical records of C/MHC patients. No differences were seen in the intermediate outcomes of glucose or lipid control. Notable differences in provider type, time since training, and use of flow sheets were found.
CONCLUSIONS—In our sample, uninsured patients with diabetes in C/MHCs had higher quality of care as suggested by higher rates of processes of care. Outcomes were similar in the two settings and well below targets. Further work is required to replicate these findings and to understand which features of C/MHCs may facilitate quality care for the uninsured and are replicable in other settings.
- C/MHC, community and migrant health center
- DQIP, Diabetes Quality Improvement Project
- IRB, North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Human Subjects
- NHIS, National Health Interview Survey
Footnotes
-
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Deborah S. Porterfield, MD, MPH, North Carolina Division of Public Health, Mail Center 1915, Raleigh, NC 27699. E-mail: deborah.porterfield{at}ncmail.net.
Received for publication 22 June 2001 and accepted in revised form 6 November 2001.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.
