Individuals with special health care needs include individuals with disabilities, individuals who utilize nursing home and home health care or end-of-life health care, and children with special heath care needs (CSHCN).
Many measures of relevance to individuals with special health care needs are tracked in the NHDR. In the 2003 NHDR, a small amount of information about each population with special health care needs was presented. In the 2004 NHDR, disparities in health care for CSHCN were highlighted. This year, data on quality and access are presented for younger and elderly Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities and for CSHCN, as follows:
Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries With Disabilities
| Component of health care need: | Measure: |
|---|---|
| Prevention | Receipt of influenza vaccination |
| Access to care | Problems getting to the doctor |
Younger Medicare Beneficiaries With Disabilities
| Component of health care need: | Measure: |
|---|---|
| Prevention | Receipt of pneumonia vaccination |
| Access to care | Delays in care due to cost |
Children With Special Health Care Needs
| Component of health care need: | Measure: |
|---|---|
| Timeliness | Care for illness or injury as soon as wanted |
| Patient centeredness | Patient experience of care |
Additionally, findings for persons who utilize nursing home care are presented in the section on nursing home and home health care in Chapter 2, Quality of Health Care. Previous NHDR data sources for home health and end-of-life care were not available this year, but it is anticipated that data from the redesigned National Nursing Home Survey will be available for the 2006 NHDR.