Regular Source of Care and the Minority Aged

Abstract

Data from the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey are used to examine the access of elderly minorities to a regular source of medical care. The findings suggest that such elderly persons are about as likely as the white elderly to have a routine point of entry into the medical care system. There are, however, difference in the type of setting at which care is received. Compared with the elderly population of whites, the elderly population of minorities is more likely to have a regular source of care in an institutional setting and less likely to have a regular source of care that provides house calls or emergency services. The absence of a usual source of care may be a contributing factor to the difference in use of health services between the white and the nonwhite elderly populations.

Continuity of Primary Care: To Whom Does It Matter and When?

“…43 Forced disruption in continuity is more difficult for patients who are older, have more chronic illness, are in the middle of a workup for a new problem, or who have a longstanding relationship with the physician. 44 Only about 50% of patients in previous studies report continuity of physician, 37,45,46 and these rates could be lower for elderly minority patients 46,47 and those without health insurance. 48 Because continuity appears to have greater importance to vulnerable populations, 46,47,49.50 who in turn might experience greater difficulty achieving continuity, additional research to understand the complex effects of continuity takes on urgent policy importance.…”