The Medical Home Experience of Low-income Children with Non-Urgent Encounters in Acute Care Settings

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Health Services Research
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Access to a medical home is crucial for consistent healthcare.
• Understanding parental attitudes towards healthcare-seeking behavior is vital for improving pediatric care.
• Low-income children often utilize acute care settings for non-urgent issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between medical home access and parental attitudes regarding healthcare-seeking behaviors.
• To investigate factors influencing non-urgent acute care encounters among low-income children.
• To assess the role of a medical home in shaping parental decisions for seeking care.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 1,743 publicly insured children with non-urgent acute care encounters.
• Utilized parent surveys to assess medical home access and healthcare-seeking behavior attitudes.
• Employed multivariate logistic regression to determine relationships between medical home access and attitudes.

Main Results:

• Forty percent of children in the study had a medical home.
• Medical home access was positively linked to parents always contacting a doctor before seeking acute care.
• Parents with a medical home showed a preference for their child's doctor, especially with extended office hours.

Conclusions:

• A medical home is associated with favorable healthcare-seeking attitudes.
• Medical home access alone may not eliminate all barriers leading to non-urgent acute care visits.
• Further interventions are needed to address broader barriers influencing healthcare utilization in low-income populations.