Transcript Primary Care, Health, and Equity Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH Supercourse lecture September 2004 Health systems have several major components: • Public health activities • Primary care • Specialty care.

Primary Care,
Health, and Equity
Barbara Starfield,
MD, MPH
Supercourse lecture
September 2004
Health systems have several
major components:
• Public health activities
• Primary care
• Specialty care
Primary care is the provision of
first contact, person-focused
ongoing care over time that
meets the health-related needs
of people, referring only those
too uncommon to maintain
competence, and coordinates
care when people receive
services at other levels of care.
Primary health care is primary care
applied on a population level. As a
population strategy, it requires the
commitment of governments to
develop a population-oriented set
of primary care services in the
context of other levels and types
of services.
Why Is Primary Care
Important?
Better health outcomes
Lower costs
Greater equity in health
Evidence of the
Benefits of a Primary
Care-Oriented Health
System
Primary Care Scores, 1980s and 1990s
1980s
1990s
Belgium
France*
Germany
United States
0.8
0.5
0.2
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.4
Australia
Canada
Japan*
Sweden
1.1
1.2
1.2
1.1
1.2
0.8
0.9
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
Spain*
United Kingdom
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.7
1.7
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.9
*Scores
available only
for the 1990s
Practice Characteristics
(Rank*)
System and Practice Characteristics
Facilitating Primary Care, Early-Mid 1990s
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
GER
FR
BEL
US
SWE
JAP
CAN
FIN
AUS
SP
DK
NTH
UK
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13
System Characteristics (Rank*)
*Best level of health indicator is ranked 1; worst is ranked 13;
thus, lower average ranks indicate better performance.
Primary Care Score vs. Health Care
Expenditures, 1997
Primary Care Score
2
UK
DK
NTH
1.5
FIN
SP
CAN
AUS
1
SWE
JAP
0.5
GER
BEL
0
1000
1500
US
FR
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Per Capita Health Care Expenditures
Based on data in Starfield & Shi, Health Policy 2002; 60:201-18.
Average Rankings* for Health
Indicators in Infancy, for Countries
Grouped by Primary Care Orientation
Low Birth
Weight
(1993)
Neonatal
Mortality
(1993)
Postneonatal
Infant
Mortality
Mortality
(1993)
(1996)
Worse primary care
(Belgium, France,
Germany, US)
9.5
7.8
11.5
8.8
Better primary care
(Australia, Canada,
Japan, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland,
Netherlands,
Spain, UK**)
5.9
6.7
5.0
6.2
*Best level of health indicator is ranked
1; worst is ranked 13; thus, lower
average ranks indicate better
performance.
**England and Wales only
Average Rankings* for YPLL in Countries
Grouped by Primary Care Orientation
Suicide
All Except External
Female
Male
Female
Male
Worse primary care
(Belgium, France,
Germany, US)
7.3
8.3
8.8
10.8
Better primary care
(Australia, Canada,
Japan, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland,
Netherlands, Spain,
UK**)
6.9
6.3
6.2
5.4
*Best level of health indicator is ranked 1; worst is ranked 13;
thus, lower average ranks indicate better performance.
**England and Wales only
Average Rankings* for Life Expectancy
at Ages 40, 65, and 80, for Countries
Grouped by Primary Care Orientation
Age 40
Female
Age 65
Male Female Male
Age 80
Female
Male
Worse primary care
(Belgium, France,
Germany, US)
7.8
9.5
8.0
8.0
7.4
6.9
Better primary care
(Australia, Canada,
Japan, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland,
Netherlands,
Spain, UK**)
6.7
5.9
6.6
6.6
6.8
7.1
*Best level of health indicator is ranked 1; worst is ranked 13;
thus, lower average ranks indicate better performance.
**England and Wales only
Average Rankings for World Health Organization
Health Indicators for Countries Grouped
by Primary Care Orientation
DALEs
Child Survival
Equity
Overall
Health
Worse primary care
(Belgium, France,
Germany, US)
16.3
22.5
36.3
Better primary care
(Australia, Canada,
Sweden, Japan, Denmark,
Finland, Netherlands,
Spain, UK)
11.0
15.8
29.1
DALE: Disability adjusted life expectancy (life lived in good health)
Child survival: survival to age 2, with a disparities component
Overall health: DALE minus DALE in absence of a health system
Maximum DALE for health expenditures
minus same in absence of a health system
Primary Care Score and Health Outcomes
Health Outcome
All-cause mortality
Association with Primary
Care Score*
In Males
In Females

Life expectancy

Infant Mortality Rate

PYLL (all causes)


PYLL (pneumonia & influenza)


PYLL (asthma & bronchitis)


PYLL (cerebrovascular disease)


PYLL (heart disease)


*Primary care coefficient significant at p<0.05 level and estimated by
fixed effects, using pooled cross-sectional time series design. Analysis
controlled for GDP, percent elderly, doctors/capita, average income
(ppp), alcohol and tobacco use. R2(within) averaged from to .36 to .84.
Primary Care Score and Premature
Mortality in 18 OECD Countries
10000
PYLL
Low PC Countries*
5000
All Countries*
High PC Countries*
0
1970
1980
Year
1990
2000
*Predicted PYLL (both genders) estimated by fixed effects, using
pooled cross-sectional time series design. Analysis controlled for
GDP, percent elderly, doctors/capita, average income (ppp), alcohol
and tobacco use. R2(within)=0.77.
Overall, countries that
achieve better health levels
• Are primary care-oriented
• Have more equitable resource
distributions
• Have government-provided health
services or health insurance
• Have little or no private health insurance
• Have no or low co-payments for health
services
Is Primary Care as
Important within
Countries as It Is
among Countries?
State Level Analysis:
Primary Care and Life Expectancy
78
77
.
. E SD .
N
.
.ME . NH
. ID
. AZ RI .
.
. IA UT
. NM
. MT . NJ
.
. TN WI . KS FL
.
. . TX
. AR . . PA
. WV DE
MI
.
. NC KY .VA
. IL
. MS AL
.NV
. AK
. GA
. SC
Life Expectancy
ID
76
75
74
73
72
.
. MN
. CT . WA
. MA
. CA
. ND
. OR
HI
. NY
.
MD
R=.54
. LA
P<.05
71
4.00
4.50
5.00
5.50
6.00
6.50
7.00
Primary Care Physicians/10,000 Population
7.50
Primary Care and Infant Mortality
Rates, Indonesia, 1996-2000
Primary care
spending
per capita*
Hospital
spending
per capita*
Infant mortality
1996-1997
19971998
19981999
1999-2000
10.3
9.6
8.5
8.2
4.4
4.6
5.3
4.1
20% improvement
(all provinces)
(1990-96)
14% worsening
(22 of 26 provinces)
*constant Indonesian rupiah, in billions
In England, each additional
primary care physician per 1000
(about a 20% increase) is
associated with a decrease in
mortality of about 5%, adjusting
for limiting long-term illness and
for various demographic and
socioeconomic characteristics.
Regression Analysis: Characteristics of
Medicare Beneficiaries in Fair or Poor
Health with a Preventable Hospitalization*
Characteristics
Odds Ratio
(95% confidence interval)
Male
1.31 (1.03-1.68)
Primary care shortage area
1.70 (1.09-2.65)
*Only significant (p<.05) shown. Nonsignificant: age,
nonwhite, education, marital status, income,
supplemental insurance.
Health Care Expenditures and
Mortality 5 Year Followup:
United States, 1987-92
• Adults (age 25 and older) with a
primary care physician rather than a
specialist as their personal physician
– had 33% lower cost of care
– were 19% less likely to die (after
controlling for age, gender, income,
insurance, smoking, perceived health
(SF-36) and 11 major health conditions)
Many other studies done WITHIN
countries, both industrial and developing,
show that areas with better primary care
have better health outcomes, including
total mortality rates, heart disease,
mortality rates, and infant mortality, and
earlier detection of cancers such as
colorectal cancer, breast cancer,
uterine/cervical cancer, and melanoma.
The opposite is the case for higher
specialist supply, which is associated
with worse outcomes.