Primary Care Involvement Among Hospitalized Children
James M. Perrin, MD;
Peter Greenspan, MD;
Sheila R. Bloom, MS;
Dianne Finkelstein, PhD;
Susan Yazdgerdi, MS;
John M. Leventhal, MD;
Lance Rodewald, MD;
Peter Szilagyi, MD, MPH;
Charles J. Homer, MD, MPH
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150(5):479-486.
Abstract
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Objective
To examine relations between characteristics of a child's usual source of primary care and involvement of that source before and during hospitalization.
Design
Medical record review of pediatric hospitalizations.
Setting
All hospitals in Boston, Mass; New Haven, Conn; and Rochester, NY admitting children during the calendar years 1988 through 1990.
Patients
The study included 1875 randomly selected pediatric hospitalizations for five diagnostic groups (ie, asthma and other lower respiratory tract disease, abdominal pain [includingappendicitis],meningitis [bacterial and viral], toxic ingestions, and head injury). Hospital records selected were limited to children aged between 1 month and 12 years and residing in the three study communities.
Outcome Measures
Whether the primary care source examined the child before admission to the hospital, referred the child to the emergency department, or served as the in-hospital attending physician.
Results
Of the medical charts reviewed, 85.7% identified primary care sources. Children in Rochester had higher rates of medical visits before admission (P<.04), referrals (P<.001), and in-hospital care provided by the primary care physician (P<.001,  2) than children in Boston and New Haven. Patterns of primary care involvement also varied by source of care within cities, after controlling for income and severity of illness. Compared with children from Rochester community-based private practices, children in Boston receiving care from health centers, hospitals, or community-based private practices generally had 25% to 50% lower likelihood of positive findings on all primary care involvement measures. Children in New Haven receiving care from community-based private or hospital-based practices also had lower rates, but involvement rates were not higher when they received care from health centers. Other children in Rochester and children receiving care from health maintenance organizations in all cities demonstrated almost no significant differences compared with data from Rochester community practices.
Conclusion
The source of primary care is associated with patterns of prehospital and hospital care among hospitalized children, although specific associations vary by city.
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1996;150:479-486)
Footnotes
The affiliations of the authors appear in the "Acknowledgment" section at end of this article.
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