Table 2.

Contrast in Adjusted Patient Experience and Utilization at 12 Months Between Not Reassigned and Reassigned Patients

CharacteristicNot Reassigned Estimate (CI)Reassigned Estimate (CI)Mean Differencea Estimate (CI)PValue
CI = confidence interval.
a Adjusted mean difference and P value from linear regression with cluster-adjusted standard errors. Comparisons are between reassigned and not reassigned patients, over 12-month patient experience measures adjusting for sex, age, educational attainment, self-reported health status at baseline, assignment to new vs existing physician, and 2006 patient experience.
b The ACES-SF and PACIC questions (scored on 6- and 5-point Likert scales, respectively) were totaled within the subscales and then transformed to 100-point summary scores.
c Adjusted percent difference and P value from a generalized linear model with a log link and Poisson variance, adjusting for overdispersion. Comparisons are between reassigned and not reassigned patients, over 12-month utilization adjusting for sex, age, morbidity, duration of relationship with primary care physician, assignment to new vs existing physician and 2006 utilization.
Patient experience
Ambulatory Care Experiences Survey (ACES-SF)b
    Quality of doctor-patient interactions86.1 (84.9 to 87.2)86.9 (83.5 to 90.4)0.88 (−2.99 to 4.75).656
    Shared decision making86.4 (84.7 to 88.2)84.0 (78.0 to 90.0)−2.51 (−9.20 to 4.19).462
    Coordination of care82.0 (80.2 to 83.8)80.3 (75.1 to 85.4)−1.76 (−7.63 to 4.12).558
    Access86.8 (85.5 to 88.2)85.3 (81.3 to 89.2)−1.57 (−5.94 to 2.79).479
    Helpfulness of office staff90.9 (89.5 to 92.3)88.7 (84.6 to 92.8)−2.14 (−6.77 to 2.48).363
Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care survey (PACIC)b
    Activation81.1 (79.0 to 83.1)80.0 (74.7 to 85.4)−1.03 (−7.19 to 5.13).743
    Goal setting74.0 (71.7 to 76.3)73.9 (67.6 to 80.1)−0.15 (−7.30 to 7.00).967
Utilization (contacts per person per year)% Difference Estimatec (CI)
Primary care visits3.00 (2.93 to 3.08)2.67 (2.53 to 2.83)−10.9 (−16.7 to −4.7).001
Emergency department/urgent care visits0.295 (0.279 to 3.12)0.324 (0.289 to 0.363)9.8 (−4.2 to 25.8).181
Secure message threads2.28 (2.20 to 2.36)2.42 (2.26 to 2.59)6.1 (−2.3 to 15.2).157
Telephone encounters2.84 (2.74 to 2.94)2.82 (2.63 to 3.03)−0.6 (−9.7 to 8.1).884