PS3-22: Medical Homes: A Comparison of the Factors that Predict Utilization across the Lifespan

Abstract

Background: Not having access to a regular source of health care has been noted as one of the main contributors to the existence of health care disparities among ethnic minority populations (Lurie & Dubowitz, 2007). Utilizing a medical home has been proposed as a method to aid in the elimination of health disparities. A medical home is defined as a health care practitioner or facility that a person regularly utilizes for their primary care. Hispanics are less likely than whites to have a regular doctor that they had visited in the past year and African Americans are more likely than whites to visit the emergency room for non-urgent care (Doty & Holmgen, 2006). It is these conditions that brought about the rise of the medical home model. Aim: To examine several demographic and health-related variables that can have a significant impact on whether or not younger and older adults have medical homes. Methods: The data for this study came from the 2001 Health Care Quality Survey, conducted by the Commonwealth Fund. The respondents were 6,299 adults ages 18 to 99 that responded to the telephone survey. For this analysis, the respondents were divided into the following two age groups in order to compare outcomes by age: 18–49 and 50 and older. Results: The older people in the 18 to 49 age group were more likely to have medical homes. Female younger adults were more likely to have a medical home. Younger Non-Hispanic Whites were less likely to have a medical home. Married older adults were more likely to have a medical home. Younger adults with more education and higher incomes were more likely to have a medical home. Having health insurance and more health conditions were both significant predictors of having a medical home for both age groups. Conclusions: The demographic factors that predicted whether or not a client had a medical home varied by age group, but there were some common factors. Being able to afford health care increases the likelihood of having a medical home. Racial/ethnic minorities are not less likely to have a medical home.