FINDINGS:
In a new study, researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program at UCLA and colleagues investigated the ways in which community health centers access subspecialty care. They identified six major models and determined which of those six offered the best access:
Tin cup
Center providers rely on personal relationships with informal networks of subspecialists (the most prevalent model).
Hospital partnership
Center has a contract with a community hospital for subspecialty care.
Buy your own
Center hires subspecialists.
Telehealth
Telecommunications equipment is used to connect patients with subspecialists.
Teaching community
Centers train primary-care resident physicians and integrate subspecialists as faculty.
Integrated system
Centers are integrated with local government health systems or safety-net hospitals having subspecialist networks.
Of the six, the researchers found that the "integrated system" model offered the most comprehensive access to subspecialty care.
IMPACT:
AUTHORS:
JOURNAL:
Health Affairs