Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of Intervention and Comparison Panels.
| Characteristic | Intervention Panels (n = 14) |
Comparison Panels (n = 42) |
Standardized Differencea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panel Characteristic | |||
| PCPs, mean No. | 9.3 | 8.5 | 0.26 |
| Composed of 2 or more primary care practices, % | 50.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 |
| Owned by health system, % | 14.3 | 8.2 | 0.24 |
| Participated in CareFirst’s commercial medical home program in 2011 and 2012, % | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 |
| Performance for commercial patients in 2011 and 2012 | |||
| Mean quality score (out of 100) | 68.1 | 66.3 | 0.24 |
| Mean cost savings, compared with target, % | 3.9 | 3.2 | 0.19 |
| Practice(s) in panel are certified medical homes, % | 34.7 | 29.6 | 0.16 |
| Median household income where panel’s practice(s) are located | 77 982 | 78 406 | −0.02 |
| Patient Panel Characteristicsb | |||
| All Medicare FFS patients | |||
| Attributed patients per panel, mean No. | 2202 | 1342 | 1.21c |
| Age, y, mean | 73.8 | 73.9 | −0.02 |
| Female, % | 59.2 | 58.7 | 0.14 |
| White race, % | 85.1 | 82.0 | 0.21 |
| Originally entitled to Medicare due to disability, % | 11.3 | 10.9 | 0.12 |
| HCC score for panel, mean | 1.08 | 1.07 | 0.08 |
| Service use during the baseline year, mean (rate per 1000 per quarter) | |||
| All-cause hospitalizations | 79.9 | 79.2 | 0.04 |
| Ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations | 13.3 | 12.9 | 0.09 |
| Outpatient ED visit rate | 81.3 | 82.7 | −0.08 |
| Medicare Part A and B spending in baseline year, $ per patient per month | 998 | 988 | 0.07 |
| Chronic conditions, % | |||
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 11.1 | 9.5 | 0.53 |
| Congestive heart failure | 11.5 | 11.1 | 0.09 |
| Depression | 13.5 | 12.8 | 0.29 |
| Diabetes | 29.2 | 31.8 | −0.37 |
| Ischemic vascular disease | 29.9 | 28.2 | 0.34 |
| High-Risk Medicare FFS Patients | |||
| Attributed patients per panel, mean No. | 693 | 427 | 1.04c |
| HCC score for panel, mean | 2.00 | 2.00 | 0.08 |
| Service use during the baseline year, mean (rate per 1000 per quarter) | |||
| All-cause hospitalizations | 160.6 | 157.9 | 0.13 |
| Ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations | 32.3 | 30.6 | 0.25 |
| Outpatient ED visit rate | 136.4 | 139.3 | −0.10 |
| Medicare Part A and B spending in baseline year, $ per patient per month | 1843 | 1832 | 0.05 |
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; FFS, fee-for-service; HCC, hierarchical condition category; PCP, primary care practitioner (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants).
a
The difference in means between the treatment and comparison panels divided by the standard deviation in the variable across the treatment and comparison panels.
b
Patient panel characteristics were calculated in 2 steps. First, we calculated values for each panel, for example the percentage of each panel's attributed patients who were female. Second, we averaged the panel-level values across all panels in the intervention (n = 14) or comparison groups (n = 42).
c
P < .05 (no P values were >.05 but <.10).