Table 2.

Adjusted Incidence Rate Ratios of Annual Outpatient Utilization of Community-Based and Hospital-Based Patients

	Community-Based Patients (Reference=Hospital-Based Outpatient Patients)
Utilization	Incidence Rate Ratio† (95% CI)	Difference in Predicted Visits per Year‡
Primary care
VA	0.83 (0.79−0.87)***	−0.37
Medicare	1.09 (1.02−1.18)***	0.14
Total	0.94 (0.91−0.98)*	−0.22
Specialty care
VA	0.78 (0.73−0.82)***	−1.06
Medicare	1.21 (1.14−1.27)***	1.43
Total	1.00 (0.97−1.04)	0.06
Mental health care
VA	0.77 (0.66−0.90)***	−0.16
Medicare	1.35 (0.96−1.91)	0.04
Total	0.80 (0.70−0.93)***	−0.14

^†Adjusted for patient characteristics, ZIP code–level characteristics, year fixed effects, and sampling weights.

^‡The predicted number of visits was calculated using the regression coefficients and patient characteristics of a typical veteran in 2003. A typical veteran patient was defined using the mean values of all continuous patient variables and the modal values of all dichotomous patient variables.

^*p<.05

^**p<.01

^***p<.001

VA, Veterans Health Administration.