Characteristics of patients who had incentives billed on their behalf in all, some or none of the study years, 2010–2013
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients* | Standardized difference (no incentive billed v. billed in all 4 yr) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall n = 428 770 | No incentive billed in any year n = 152 686 | Incentives billed in 1–3 yr n = 133 609 | Incentives billed in all 4 yr n = 142 475 | ||
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 204 832 (47.8) | 77 014 (50.4) | 62 402 (46.7) | 65 416 (45.9) | 0.09 |
| Male | 223 811 (52.2) | 75 644 (49.5) | 71 169 (53.3) | 76 998 (54.0) | |
| Missing | 127 (< 0.1) | 28 (< 0.1) | 38 (< 0.1) | 61 (< 0.1) | |
| Age group, yr | |||||
| ≤ 17 | 6815 (1.6) | 6309 (4.1) | 407 (0.3) | 99 (0.1) | 0.66 |
| 18–44 | 35 635 (8.3) | 23 921 (15.7) | 8090 (6.1) | 3624 (2.5) | |
| 45–74 | 258 623 (60.3) | 91 170 (59.7) | 86 245 (64.6) | 81 208 (57.0) | |
| ≥ 75 | 127 697 (29.8) | 31 286 (20.5) | 38 867 (29.1) | 57 544 (40.4) | |
| Health authority | |||||
| Interior Health | 75 525 (17.6) | 24 566 (16.1) | 22 679 (17.0) | 28 280 (19.8) | 0.17 |
| Fraser Health | 157 241 (36.7) | 57 683 (37.8) | 49 993 (37.4) | 49 565 (34.8) | |
| Vancouver Coastal Health | 96 180 (22.4) | 38 239 (25.0) | 28 595 (21.4) | 29 346 (20.6) | |
| Vancouver Island Health Authority | 76 642 (17.9) | 24 275 (15.9) | 24 055 (18.0) | 28 312 (19.9) | |
| Northern Health | 22 709 (5.3) | 7722 (5.1) | 8133 (6.1) | 6854 (4.8) | |
| Missing | 473 (0.1) | 201 (0.1) | 154 (0.1) | 118 (0.1) | |
| Income quintile | |||||
| Q1 (lowest) | 94 909 (22.1) | 33 513 (21.9) | 29 975 (22.4) | 31 421 (22.0) | 0.00 |
| Q2 | 92 858 (21.7) | 32 973 (21.6) | 28 935 (21.7) | 30 950 (21.7) | |
| Q3 | 85 283 (19.9) | 30 213 (19.8) | 26 298 (19.7) | 28 772 (20.2) | |
| Q4 | 79 239 (18.5) | 28 158 (18.4) | 24 710 (18.5) | 26 371 (18.5) | |
| Q5 (highest) | 71 983 (16.8) | 26 168 (17.1) | 22 136 (16.6) | 23 679 (16.6) | |
| Missing | 4498 (1.0) | 1661 (1.1) | 1555 (1.2) | 1282 (0.9) | |
| No. of incentive-eligible conditions first yr | |||||
| 1 | 248 472 (57.9) | 113 697 (74.5) | 78 964 (59.1) | 55 811 (39.2) | 0.78 |
| 2 | 139 278 (32.5) | 34 036 (22.3) | 43 197 (32.3) | 62 045 (43.5) | |
| 3 | 36 868 (8.6) | 4651 (3.0) | 10 463 (7.8) | 21 754 (15.3) | |
| 4 | 4152 (1.0) | 302 (0.2) | 985 (0.7) | 2865 (2.0) | |
| Date of diagnosis of first eligible condition(s) | |||||
| 2010 | 45 768 (10.7) | 18 937 (12.4) | 16 703 (12.5) | 10 128 (7.1) | 0.29 |
| 1–4 yr prior (2006–2009) | 165 924 (38.7) | 66 063 (43.3) | 51 125 (38.3) | 48 736 (34.2) | |
| ≥ 5 yr prior (2005 or earlier) | 217 078 (50.6) | 67 686 (44.3) | 65 781 (49.2) | 83 611 (58.7) | |
| Non–fee-for-service encounter | |||||
| No | 305 037 (71.1) | 108 066 (70.8) | 96 018 (71.9) | 100 953 (70.9) | −0.00 |
| Yes | 123 733 (28.9) | 44 620 (29.2) | 37 591 (28.1) | 41 522 (29.1) | |
| No. of primary care physician visits over 4-yr study period | |||||
| 1–6 | 13 654 (3.2) | 10 922 (7.2) | 2595 (1.9) | 137 (0.1) | 0.73 |
| 7–12 | 26 185 (6.1) | 16 692 (10.9) | 7936 (5.9) | 1557 (1.1) | |
| 13–24 | 90 973 (21.2) | 38 604 (25.3) | 31 702 (23.7) | 20 667 (14.5) | |
| 25–48 | 168 835 (39.4) | 51 541 (33.8) | 53 039 (39.7) | 64 255 (45.1) | |
| > 48 | 129 123 (30.1) | 34 927 (22.9) | 38 337 (28.7) | 55 859 (39.2) | |
| No. of primary care physicians seen over 4-yr study period | |||||
| 1–2 | 63 259 (14.8) | 25 431 (16.7) | 18 064 (13.5) | 19 764 (13.9) | 0.08 |
| 3–4 | 96 166 (22.4) | 34 188 (22.4) | 29 117 (21.8) | 32 861 (23.1) | |
| ≥ 5 | 269 345 (62.8) | 93 067 (61.0) | 86 428 (64.7) | 89 850 (63.1) | |
| Usual provider continuity index, mean ± SD† | 7.0 ± 2.1 | 6.6 ± 2.3 | 6.8 ± 2.1 | 7.6 ± 1.7 | 0.49 |