Dataset Information

Experiences of care coordination among older adults in the United States: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The goal of this study was to examine variation in patient experiences and perceptions of care coordination across sociodemographic and health factors.

Methods

Data come from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (N = 1, 216). Three domains of coordination were assessed: 1) Perceptions (e.g., patient impressions of provider-provider communication), 2) Tangible supports (e.g., meeting with a care coordinator, being accompanied to appointments), and 3) Technical supports (e.g., use of a "patient portal"). Logistic regression was used to quantify the frequency of each domain and examine variation by racial minority status, socioeconomic status, and health status.

Results

Approximately 42% of older adults perceived poor care coordination, including 14.8% who reported receiving seemingly conflicting advice from different providers. Only one-third had ever met with a formal care coordinator, and 40% were occasionally accompanied to appointments. Although racial minorities were less likely to have access to technical supports, they were more likely to use them. Better perceived coordination was associated with higher care satisfaction (Odds Ratio: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.27-1.61).

Conclusions

Important gaps in care coordination remain for older adults.

Practice implications

Providers should consider assessing patient perceptions of care coordination to address these gaps in an equitable manner.

SUBMITTER: Eastman MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9203919 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundOlder adults see multiple outpatient providers and increasingly use home health care (HHC) services. Previous studies attempting to draw inferences about the association between HHC use and patient outcomes have been mixed. Whether HHC is associated with care coordination and how both influence outcomes are unknown. In addition, prior studies have not taken the patient perspective into account. We examined the association between receiving HHC and self-reported gaps in care coordination and separately, preventable adverse outcomes.MethodsThe analysis for this cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2021 and June 2022, using data on 4296 Medicare beneficiaries from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study who completed a survey on care coordination from 2017 to 2018. The associations between the receipt of HHC and two outcomes (a gap in care coordination, and separately, a preventable adverse event) were examined with Poisson models with robust standard errors. Potential confounders were accounted for through propensity score-based inverse probability weighting.ResultsAmong 4296 participants, 430 (10%) received HHC and they were older and had more comorbidities and ambulatory visits than those without HHC. HHC was not associated with differences in self-reported gaps in care coordination (33.3% HHC vs. 32.5% no-HHC, p = 0.70). HHC recipients reported more preventable drug-drug interactions (9.1% vs. 4.0%, p < 0.001) but not more preventable ED visits or hospital admissions. In IPW-adjusted models, HHC was not associated with gaps in care coordination (p = 0.60) but was associated with double the risk of a preventable adverse outcome (aRR 2.06; CI: 1.37, 3.10, p < 0.001).ConclusionsHHC recipients were significantly more likely (than those without HHC) to report a potentially preventable adverse event (particularly a drug-drug interaction), suggesting an opportunity to improve patient safety by leveraging the observations of older adults receiving HHC.