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Clinic Workload, the Quality of Staff Relationships and Diabetes Management in Community Health Centers Catering to Latino and Chinese Patients

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Abstract

We examine whether workplace climate-quality of staff relationships (QSR) and manageable clinic workload (MCW) are related to better patient care experiences and diabetes care in community health centers (CHCs) catering to Latino and Chinese patients. Patient experience surveys of adult patients with type 2 diabetes and workplace climate surveys of clinicians and staff from CHCs were included in an analytic sample. Comparisons of means analyses examine patient and provider characteristics. The associations of QSR, MCW and the diabetes care management were examined using regression analyses. Diabetes care process were more consistently provided in CHCs with high quality staff relations and more manageable clinic workload, but HbA1c, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure outcomes were no different between clinics with high vs. low QSR and MCW. Focusing efforts on improvements in practice climate may lead to more consistent provision of important processes of diabetes care for these patients.

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Acknowledgments

The study was approved by the UCLA IRB. This manuscript is not under consideration in other journals.

Funding

This study was funded by the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Grant Number R-18 HS20120-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South Room 31-299C, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Arturo Vargas Bustamante

  2. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, USA

    Ana Martinez & Xiao Chen

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, UC-Berkeley, Berkeley, USA

    Hector P. Rodriguez

Authors
  1. Arturo Vargas Bustamante
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  2. Ana Martinez
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  4. Hector P. Rodriguez
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Correspondence to Arturo Vargas Bustamante.

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All authors declares that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Vargas Bustamante, A., Martinez, A., Chen, X. et al. Clinic Workload, the Quality of Staff Relationships and Diabetes Management in Community Health Centers Catering to Latino and Chinese Patients. J Community Health 42, 481–488 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-016-0280-9

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