News: New study suggests vertical relationships between PCPs and health systems increases patient care spending

Vertical relationships between primary care providers (PCP) and health systems have resulted in increased spending on patient care with no discernable effect on readmission rates, Axios reported.

A recent study published by JAMA Network Open entitled “Utilization, Steering, and Spending in Vertical Relationships Between Physicians and Health Systems” examined the outcomes of Massachusetts patients whose PCPs integrated into a larger health system between 2015 and 2017.

The study compared these patients with PCPs who had either never been in a vertical relationship or had always been within a large health system from 2013 to 2017.

The study also contained more than four million patients, of which slightly more than half were female. The mean age of the population was 35.07, and 31.4% of all the patients observed possessed at least one chronic condition.

Here are some of the highlights from the report:

• Patients whose PCP entered a vertical relationship within the timeframe examined were associated with a 22.64% increase in specialist visits per patient-year compared to the control group
• Patients whose PCP entered a vertical relationship within the timeframe examined were associated with a 14.19% increase in within-system ED visits per patient-year compared to the control group
• Patients whose PCP entered a vertical relationship within the timeframe examined were associated with a 22.36% increase in within-system hospitalizations visits per patient-year compared to the control group
• Patients whose PCP entered a vertical relationship within the timeframe examined were associated with a 6.26% increase in total medical expenditures compared to the control group
• The study found no significant changes in the probability of readmission rates.

Editor’s note: To read the Axios article, click here. To read the JAMA Network Open article, click here.