The Blue Shield of California Foundation has published the results of its survey of low-income Californians and their perspectives on connectedness and continuity with their health care providers.
• Low-income patients broadly report that they want their care to be provided by a doctor, but they are very open-minded to other options, especially a team-care model. Among low-income Californians who do not have team-based care now, 81 percent say they’d be willing to try it. Among those who currently have a care team, a nearly unanimous 94 percent like it.
• Eighty percent of low-income Californians say it is important to have someone at their place of care “who knows you pretty well,” but only 38 percent say there is such a person there now.
• Those patients who report having a more personalized healthcare experience are more satisfied with the quality of their care, a prime driver of patient loyalty. They also are more likely to report having the ability and confidence to take a more active role in their health and healthcare decisions, two key aims of patient-centered care.
• Patients who regularly see the same provider – whether a doctor, nurse or physician’s assistant – rate their care more positively, feel more informed about their health, and take a more active role in care decisions.
• Fifty-four percent of low-income, non-senior Californians say they would be interested in receiving text messages with health information, and 63 percent would be interested in text messages reminding them about appointments. Similar majorities are interested in the ability to see health records, schedule appointments, and renew prescriptions online. Yet, currently, fewer than 5 percent report using these tools – indicating a largely untapped opportunity.
The survey had a statewide sample of 1,024 Californians ages 19 to 64 with household incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Langer Research Associates of New York, NY, managed, designed and analyzed the survey and wrote the report. SSRS/Social Science Research Solutions of Media, PA, conducted the sampling, data collection and tabulation. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 points for the full sample.
Ignatius Bau 