Posted on January 15, 2010

Post-Katrina Safety-Net Clinic Patients Report Better Health Care Than Most U.S. Adults, Report Finds

Despite being disproportionately low-income and uninsured, safety-net clinic patients in New Orleans have fewer problems affording care and fewer instances of medical debt and inefficient care than most U.S. adults, a new survey by the Commonwealth Fund finds.

The report, Coming Out of Crisis: Patient Experiences in Primary Care in New Orleans, Four Years Post Katrina (49 pages, PDF), found that among clinic patients surveyed, only 27 percent went without needed health care because of cost, compared with 41 percent of adults across the country. The 2009 survey of twenty-seven New Orleans health clinics was conducted eighteen months after a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant provided support for a network of independent neighborhood primary care centers in Louisiana to increase access to care and develop an organized system of care. Compared to the fund's 2007 survey, the most recent survey found that clinic patients were less worried about affordability overall. Indeed, 49 percent of clinic patients reported they were confident they could afford needed care if they became seriously ill, compared to 30 percent of adults in the general population.

Clinic patients also received care that was more efficient than the U.S. norm, with only 4 percent of patients reporting duplicate medical tests, compared to 34 percent of patients in the general population. Clinic patients also had more confidence in the healthcare system, with three-quarters saying they were very confident in their ability to get high quality and safe medical care, compared to 39 percent of U.S. adults overall.

According to the report's authors, the findings demonstrate that the post-Katrina primary care pilot program — a system that relies primarily on a large network of local clinics given financial incentives to improve care — could serve as a national model for providing primary care to vulnerable groups.

"The healthcare safety net in New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but that also presented an opportunity to build something new from the ground up," said Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis. "It's exciting to see the impact that a real focus on primary care can have on the health of this vulnerable population. I hope that the lessons learned in New Orleans will be considered as we seek ways to provide high quality, affordable health care for more Americans."