Comparative performance of community health centers and other usual sources of primary care.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how Community Health Centers (CHCs) perform relative to other primary care providers. RESEARCH
DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study of Medicaid claims comparing provider groups on the basis of avoidable hospitalizations and costs.
RESULTS: Avoidable hospitalization rates did not differ significantly across care settings. Hospital outpatient departments and CHCs had comparable total costs, whereas physicians had slightly but significantly lower total costs.
CONCLUSIONS: Understanding determinants of care cost differences could inform future performance improvement initiatives. Care quality variance within provider groups may be more significant than care quality performance across care settings.