HEALTH SERVICES UTILIZATION

62

Usual Source of Care

A usual source of care has been positively associated with receipt of preventive care,(1,2) access to care,(3) continuity of care, decreased hospitalization, and lower health care costs.(4) In 2000, 90 percent of women reported having a source of care where they usually go for medical attention. Young women aged 18-29 were the least likely to have a usual source of care (84 percent). The proportion of women with a usual source of care increased with age, with nearly all (98 percent) of women aged 85 and older having a usual source of care.

Though most women across racial and ethnic groups had an office-based usual source of care, White women were more likely to have office-based care than non-White women in 2000. Black women were more likely to use a hospital outpatient department or emergency room for their usual care than Hispanic or White women or women of other races/ethnicities. One-fifth of Hispanic women and 15.3 percent of women of other races/ethnicities had no usual source of care.

1 - Ettner SL: The relationship between continuity of care and the health behaviors of patients: Does having a usual physician make a difference? Medical Care 37(6): 547-55, 1999.

2 - Ettner SL: The timing of preventive services for women and children: The effect of having a usual source of care. American Journal of Public Health 86(12): 1748-54, 1996.

3 - Sox CM, Swartz K, Burstin HR, Brennan TA: Insurance or a regular physican: Which is the most powerful predictor of health care? American Journal of Public Health 88(3): 364-70, 1998.

4 - Weiss LJ, Blustein J: Faithful patients: The effect of long-term physician-patient relationships on the costs and use of health care by older Americans. American Journal of Public Health 86(12): 1742-7, 1996.


Percentage of women with a usual source of sick care: 18-29 years: 83.7%, 30-44 years: 89.4%, 45-64 years: 92.6%, 65-74 years: 95.6%, 75-84 years: 96.4%, 85+ years: 98.1%.


Women's usual source of sick care, by race and Hispanic origin, 2000: 90.7% of white women, 85.5% of black women, 76.6% of Hispanic women, and 81.8% of others used office-based care. 0.8% of whites, 3.4% of blacks, 1.9% of Hispanics, and 2.6% of others used hospital outpatient clinics. 0.4% of whites and 1.4% of blacks used emergency departments. 8.1% of whites, 9.8% of black, 20% of Hispanics, and 15.3% of others had no usual source of sick care.

 

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