Objectives: To determine associations between primary provider specialty and the contraceptive care that patients receive in a Federally Qualified Health Center setting in Maryland.
Methods: A study of reproductive-age patients and their providers was performed from January 2018 to December 2021. A pooled crosssectional survey of electronic medical record data for 44 127 encounters of 22 828 patients was performed to calculate the odds of contraceptive care being addressed by patients who had General Practitioner, OB/GYN, pediatrician, or infectious disease (ID) specialists as their primary providers.
Results: In 19 041 encounters (43%), contraception was addressed through either counseling alone, documentation of a contraceptive prescription, or long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) placement procedure. After adjusting for insurance status and race/ethnicity, the odds ratio (OR) of contraceptive care delivery was statistically significantly higher for OB/GYN providers compared to General Practitioners-OR 2.42 (CI 2.29-2.53) and statistically significantly lower for ID providers-OR 0.69 (CI 0.61-0.79). There was a non-statistically significant difference for Pediatricians-OR 0.88 (CI 0.77-1.01).
Conclusion: The provision of contraceptive care, a critical aspect of comprehensive primary care delivered in an FQHC setting, varies by provider specialty, and may be negatively influenced by Ryan White funding related structures. There is a need to intentionally design robust referral and tracking systems to ensure contraceptive care is equitably accessible to all, regardless of assigned primary care provider specialty or HIV status.
Keywords: access to care; contraception; primary care; specialty provider; underserved communities.