• Michael Partin, Ana Sanchez, Jessica Poulson, Arthur Berg, Jessica Parascando, and Sarah Ines Ramirez.
• From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey, PA (MP, JP, SIR); Department of Family Medicine, Penn Medicine, Lancaster General Health, Lancaster, PA (AS); College of Medicine, Penn State, Hershey, PA (JP); Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Penn State, Hershey, PA (AB).
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2021 Jan 1; 34 (1): 181-188.

IntroductionFamily Medicine (FM) physicians play a vital role in caring for vulnerable populations across diverse practice settings. The significant decline in FM physicians performing deliveries compounds the estimated shortage of 9000 prenatal care providers expected by 2030.This study investigated the social risk profile, as characterized by social determinants of health, of patients receiving prenatal care from FM versus Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/Gyn) providers.MethodsRetrospective chart review of patients receiving prenatal care between 2015 to 2018 at Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center comparing social determinants of health between FM and OB/Gyn.ResultsA total of 487 patient charts were reviewed with final analysis completed on 215 charts from each cohort. When compared with OB/Gyn, prenatal patients cared for by FM were more likely to be younger (27 vs 29 years old; P < .0001), African American (28% vs 8%; P < .0001), single (52% vs 37%; P < .01), have high school or less education (67% vs 49%; P < .01), use Medicaid (46% vs 23%; P < .0001), and use tobacco during pregnancy (17% vs 8%; P < .01). In addition, FM patients had a lower rate of total Cesarean-sections (C-section), including primary and repeat, when compared with OB/Gyn (23% vs 32%; P = .04).ConclusionsOur work demonstrates that when compared with OB/Gyn at our institution, FM physicians provide care to a cohort of patients with an increased burden of social risk without compromise to care as evidenced by a lower C-section rate and similar gestational age at delivery.© Copyright 2021 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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