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IntroductionTuberculosis (TB) requires at least six months of multidrug treatment and necessitates monitoring for response to treatment. Historically, public health departments (HDs) have cared for most TB patients in the United States. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides coverage for uninsured persons and may increase the proportion of TB patients cared for by private medical providers and other providers outside HDs (PMPs). We sought to determine whether there were differences in care provided by HDs and PMPs to inform public health planning under the ACA.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of California TB registry data. We included adult TB patients with culture-positive, pulmonary TB reported in California during 2007–2011. We examined trends, described case characteristics, and created multivariate models measuring two standards of TB care in PMP- and HD-managed patients: documented culture conversion within 60 days, and use of directly observed therapy (DOT).ResultsThe proportion of PMP-managed TB patients increased during 2007–2011 (p = 0.002). On univariable analysis (N = 4,606), older age, white, black or Asian/Pacific Islander race, and birth in the United States were significantly associated with PMP care (p<0.05). Younger age, Hispanic ethnicity, homelessness, drug or alcohol use, and cavitary and/or smear-positive TB disease, were associated with HD care. Multivariable analysis showed PMP care was associated with lack of documented culture conversion (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.37, confidence interval [CI] 1.25–1.51) and lack of DOT (aRR = 8.56, CI 6.59–11.1).ConclusionWhile HDs cared for TB cases with more social and clinical complexities, patients under PMP care were less likely to receive DOT and have documented culture conversion. This indicates a need for close collaboration between PMPs and HDs to ensure that optimal care is provided to all TB patients and TB transmission is halted. Strategies to enhance collaboration between HDs and PMPs should be included in ACA implementation.

California's state and local tuberculosis (TB) programs collaborated to develop the Tuberculosis Indicators Project (TIP), a program evaluation and improvement process. In TIP, local and state staff review data, identify program gaps, implement plans to improve local TB program performance, and evaluate outcomes. After 10 years of project implementation, indicator performance changes and patient outcomes were measured. Eighty-seven percent of participating programs showed a performance increase in targeted indicators after three years compared with 57% of comparison groups. Statistically significant performance change was more common in the intervention local health departments (LHDs) than in comparison groups. The most notable performance changes were in the contact investigation and case management indicators. These results indicate that this systematic evaluation and program improvement project was associated with improved LHD TB control performance and may be useful to inform improvement projects in other public health programs.