Public Health Commons^™

Mental Health Services Provision In Primary Care And Emergency Department Settings: Analysis Of Blended Fee-For-Service And Blended Capitation Models In Ontario, Canada., Thyna Vu, Kelly K Anderson, Nibene H Somé, Amardeep Thind, Sisira Sarma

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Treating mental illnesses in primary care is increasingly emphasized to improve access to mental health services. Although family physicians (FPs) or general practitioners are in an ideal position to provide the bulk of mental health care, it is unclear how best to remunerate FPs for the adequate provision of mental health services. We examined the quantity of mental health services provided in Ontario's blended fee-for-service and blended capitation models. We evaluated the impact of FPs switching from blended fee-for-service to blended capitation on the provision of mental health services in primary care and emergency department using longitudinal health administrative data …

Emergency Department Use Following Incentives To Provide After-Hours Primary Care: A Retrospective Cohort Study., Michael Hong, Amardeep Thind, Gregory S Zaric, Sisira Sarma

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

BACKGROUND: Access to primary care outside of regular working hours is limited in many countries. This study investigates the relation between the after-hours premium, an incentive for primary care physicians to provide services after hours, and less-urgent visits to the emergency department in Ontario, Canada.

METHODS: We analyzed a retrospective cohort of a random sample of Ontario residents from April 2002 to March 2006, and a subcohort of patients followed from April 2005 to March 2016. We linked patient and primary care physician data with emergency department visit data. We used fixed-effects regression models to analyze the association between the …

The Impact Of Improved Access To After-Hours Primary Care On Emergency Department And Primary Care Utilization: A Systematic Review., Michael Hong, Amardeep Thind, Gregory S Zaric, Sisira Sarma

Epidemiology and Biostatistics Publications

Access to after-hours primary care is problematic in many developed countries, leading patients to instead visit the emergency department for non-urgent conditions. However, emergency department utilization for conditions treatable in primary care settings may contribute to emergency department overcrowding and increased health system costs. This systematic review examines the impact of various initiatives by developed countries to improve access to after-hours primary care on emergency department and primary care utilization. We performed a systematic review on the impact of improved access to after-hours primary and searched CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Scopus. We identified 20 studies that examined the impact of …