Knox County Tenncare head of household enrollees' attitudes toward their health care services

Author

Cyrus Bernard Nasseri

Date of Award

8-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Human Ecology

Major Professor

Jack Pursley

Abstract

On November 18, 1993, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) granted Tennessee a Section 1115a Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) waiver enabling the state to provide health insurance to its Medicaid beneficiaries through a mandatory managed care program called TennCare. Tennessee moved from deliverer to regulator of Medicaid services. The purpose of this study was to ascertain and analyze Knox County Tennessee's TennCare heads of household enrollees' attitudes toward their health care services. The sample consisted of 258 head of household enrollees from a population of 23,237 after blind. Medicare dual, under age eighteen, and disabled enrollees were excluded. The data were collected during the spring of 1996 by the method of random digit telephone dialing. Instrumentation consisted of the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III (PSQ- III) (Wilkim, Hallem, and Duggett, 1992). The PSQ-III included items which assessed satisfaction with interpersonal aspects, communication, accessibility, time spent with doctor, financial aspects, technical quality, and overall general satisfaction with health care. A demographic instrument, developed specifically for the study, was also included. Following data collection, One-Way Analysis of Variance and Duncan's New Multiple Range Test were employed to compare and contrast attitudinal means among the categorical groups. The study conclusions were as follows:

1. On a scale of 0 to 100, Knox County TennCare heads of household enrollees were 63.6 percent satisfied with their health care services.

2. When compared and contrasted by age, managed care organization (MOO), perceived health status, economic standing, initial provider site, most recent encounter, work environment, household income level, and educational level, Knox County TennCare heads of household enrollees' attitudes were significantly different. Some of the study's recommendations were as follows:

1. More research is needed to further analyze the criterion variables of "Accessibility," "Time Spent With Doctor," and "Financial Aspects," as Knox County TennCare heads of household enrollees were least satisfied with these health care services.

2. A study to determine the association between enrollee satisfaction, compliance, and health outcomes with comparisons among medical specialties would be useful.

3. The TennCare Bureau should emphasize to MCOs the importance of educating enrollees about their health insurance program.

Recommended Citation

Nasseri, Cyrus Bernard, "Knox County Tenncare head of household enrollees' attitudes toward their health care services. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1997.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/9574