The quality of primary care experienced by health center patients

Background: we investigated the quality of the primary care experienced by health center (hc) patients and investigated whether race/ethnicity and insurance coverage were significantly associated with patients' experiences. methods: cross-sectional data came from the 2009 health center patient survey. outcomes included 10 measures of patients' experiences with primary care domains,including: (1) accessibility,(2) communication,(3) comprehensiveness,and (4) coordination of care. results: patients who received care at hcs reported high-quality primary care,particularly regarding accessibility and communication. for example,more than 94% of patients reported that their hc location was convenient,and more than 94% reported that their provider adequately explained what they wanted to know. after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics,few significant racial/ethnic and insurance-related disparities were observed. in the domains of comprehensiveness and coordination,insured patients generally had better experiences than uninsured patients. for instance,medicaid-in-sured patients had higher odds of reporting that hc staff helped them arrange medical appointments at other health care settings than uninsured patients (odds ratio,2.04; 95% confidence interval,1.35-3.09). conclusions: as safety-net providers for vulnerable populations,hcs provide high-quality primary care and do not exhibit the extent of disparities that exist in other us health care settings. continued efforts are necessary to address insurance-related disparities,particularly among uninsured patients.