2005 National Healthcare Quality Report, Data Tables. Table 3.3b

You Are Here: AHRQ Home > Quality Assessment > Measuring Healthcare Quality > National Healthcare Quality Report, 2005

Table 3.3b
Adults age 18 and over who reported making an appointment for routine health care in the last 12 months, percent distribution of how often they got an appointment as soon as wanted, United States, 2000

				Appointment as soon as wanted
		Total population (in thousands)^e	Percent had appointment^f	Always		Usually		Sometimes or never
Population group		Total population (in thousands)^e	Percent had appointment^f	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error
Total		202,738	68.0	43.1	0.8	37.0	0.7	19.9	0.6
Race	White	170,084	69.4	43.1	0.9	37.8	0.8	19.1	0.6
	Black	24,518	62.6	46.1	1.6	30.8	1.7	23.2	1.3
	Asian or Pacific Islander	6,499	54.3	29.5	3.9	38.8	4.4	31.7	3.9
	American Indian or Alaska Native	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
Ethnicity	Hispanic, all races	21,738	57.1	36.2	1.6	38.7	1.6	25.1	1.5
	Non-Hispanic, all races	180,999	69.3	43.8	0.9	36.9	0.7	19.4	0.6
	Non-Hispanic, White	150,153	71.0	44.0	1.0	37.6	0.8	18.4	0.7
	Non-Hispanic, Black	23,466	63.0	45.5	1.6	31.1	1.7	23.4	1.4
	Non-Hispanic, other	7,380	54.3	33.4	3.7	37.6	4.2	29.0	3.3
Gender	Male	97,198	58.1	44.2	1.2	37.1	0.9	18.7	0.8
Gender	Female	105,540	77.1	42.4	0.8	37.0	0.8	20.7	0.6
Age	18-44	108,439	57.8	37.7	1.1	37.8	1.0	24.5	0.9
	45-64	61,509	75.4	43.4	1.0	38.2	0.9	18.4	0.9
	65 and over	32,791	88.1	55.2	1.3	33.1	1.3	11.7	0.9
Education^a	Less than high school	40,860	63.0	45.3	1.3	35.1	1.3	19.6	1.0
	High school graduate	66,421	65.5	44.6	1.1	37.6	0.9	17.9	0.9
	At least some college	93,918	72.0	41.1	1.1	37.4	0.9	21.4	0.8
Employment status^b	Employed	140,394	62.5	39.2	0.9	38.2	0.8	22.6	0.7
Employment status^b	Not employed	29,534	71.8	43.8	1.4	37.0	1.4	19.3	1.2
Health insurance, age 18-64	Any private	132,072	68.0	39.9	0.9	38.9	0.8	21.1	0.6
	Public only	13,122	71.5	45.9	2.1	32.6	2.3	21.6	1.7
	Uninsured	24,753	39.4	36.0	2.4	34.6	2.1	29.4	2.3
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	10,918	86.5	51.7	2.4	36.5	2.3	11.7	1.3
	Medicare and private	18,453	89.0	57.9	1.8	30.8	1.7	11.3	1.3
	Medicare and other public	3,238	88.3	51.3	3.6	35.2	3.8	13.5	2.2
Family income^c	Negative or poor	19,351	64.8	47.0	1.8	30.0	1.7	22.9	1.5
	Near poor/low income	33,104	64.6	43.9	1.7	35.4	1.4	20.7	1.2
	Middle income	65,142	64.8	43.2	1.4	39.1	1.2	17.7	0.9
	High income	85,141	72.5	42.0	1.2	37.6	1.0	20.4	0.9
Residence location^d	Metropolitan-large	113,291	67.2	41.0	0.9	37.7	0.8	21.3	0.8
	Metropolitan-small	53,724	69.6	44.6	1.7	36.8	1.2	18.6	1.1
	Micropolitan	20,879	70.3	49.2	1.8	33.2	2.0	17.6	1.3
	Noncore-adjacent	10,991	64.6	47.4	2.6	37.5	2.4	15.0	1.5
	Noncore-not adjacent	3,853	67.8	38.9	3.6	38.4	1.7	22.7	3.9
Perceived health status	Excellent, very good or good	177,944	65.8	42.9	0.8	36.9	0.7	20.2	0.6
Perceived health status	Fair or poor	24,794	83.9	44.6	1.5	37.5	1.6	18.0	1.2

^a "Less than high school" refers to fewer than 12 years of education; "high school graduate", 12 years of education; and "at least some college", more than 12 years of education.

^b Employment status for persons age 18-64 only.

^c "Negative or poor" refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; "near poor/low income", over the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; "middle income", 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and "high income", 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^d See the MEPS entry in the Data Sources section of the Measures Specifications Appendix for more information.

^e Total adult population, age 18 and over. Numbers may not add to total due to missing or rounding.

^f Denominator is total adult population, excluding missing values.

DSU - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality or confidentiality.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Return to Contents