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Schuttner L, Gunnink E, Sylling P, Taylor L, Fihn SD, Nelson K. Components of the Patient-Centered Medical Home Associated with Perceived Access to Primary Care. Journal of general internal medicine. 2020 Jun 1; 35(6):1736-1742.
BACKGROUND: Following implementation of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), access to primary care improved. However, understanding of how this occurred is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between organizational aspects of the PCMH model and access-related initiatives with patient perception of access to urgent, same-day, and routine care within the VA. DESIGN: Cross-sectional PARTICIPANTS: Veterans who responded to the annual Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients in 2016 (N? = 241,122 patients) and primary staff who responded to VA National Primary Care Provider and Staff Survey (N? = 4815 staff). MAIN MEASURES: Three outcomes of perception of access: percentage of patients responding in the highest category for same-day care (waiting = 1 day), urgent care (always receiving care when needed), and routine care (always receiving checkups when desired). Predictors were staff-level report of access-related initiatives and organizational factors in the clinic. We used generalized estimating equations to model associations, adjusting for characteristics of patients and their respective clinics. KEY RESULTS: Access was significantly better in clinics where staff reviewed performance reports (+?0.9% in the highest perception of access for urgent care, P? < 0.01; +?1.2% for routine care, P? < 0.001), leadership was supportive of the PCMH (+?1.6% for urgent care, P? < 0.01), and initiatives to improve access included open access (+?0.8% to +?1.7% across all outcomes, P? < 0.01) and telehealth visits (+?1.2% to +?1.4%, P? < 0.001). Perceived access was worse in clinics with moderate staff burnout (-?1.1% to -?1.4%, P? < 0.001), primary care provider turnover during the past year (-?1.0% to -?1.6%, P? < 0.001), or medical support assistant turnover in the past year (-?0.9% to -?1.4%, P? < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Perception of access was strongly associated with identifiable organizational factors and access-related initiatives within VA primary care clinics that could be adopted by other health systems.