Access to health care refers to the ease with which an individual can obtain needed medical services. RAND research has examined the social, cultural, economic, and geographic factors that influence health care access worldwide; the effects of changes in access; and the relationship between access and health for specific U.S. populations—including racial and ethnic minorities, people with limited English proficiency, the uninsured, the elderly, children, and veterans.
Simulated patient, or so-called mystery-shopper, studies are a controversial, but potentially useful, approach to take when conducting health services research.
This study was a cross-sectional analysis of the 2007 National Survey for Children's Health, a nationally representative survey of 91 642 parents.
Policies to increase preventive testing in developing countries should include subsidies towards treatment costs.
This paper argues that the development of targeted health technologies for poor people will require a new mix of technology, organizations and institutions which we conceptualize as new social technologies.
This commentary poses a series of policy questions for the 2012 presidential candidates to spur a dialogue about the vital issues of child poverty, health, development, and education.
Visits to retail medical clinics increased four-fold from 2007 to 2009, with the proportion of patients over age 65 growing from 8 to 19 percent of all visits during this period. More than 44 percent of visits occurred on the weekend or other hours when physician offices typically are closed.
Policies targeting socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and those without insurance may be needed to reduce disparities in access to appropriate eye care.
Enrollment is increasing in consumer-directed health insurance plans, which feature high deductibles and a personal health care savings account.
The authors compare the experiences of elderly Medicare beneficiaries in Puerto Rico with their English-preferring and Spanish-preferring Medicare counterparts in the U.S. mainland.
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship of wealth and income and the relative impact of each on dental utilization in a population of older Americans, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).
Children and adolescents are among the highest need populations in regards to mental health support, especially in low and middle income countries (LMIC).
The CHIP expansions to children in higher income families were associated with limited uptake of public coverage.
The aim of this study was to examine the views of key stakeholders in health care payer organizations on the use of practice redesign strategies to improve the delivery of well-child care (WCC) to low-income children aged 0 to 3 years.
Retail clinic use increased 10-fold from 2007 to 2009. By 2009, roughly 7 percent of all visits by commercially insured patients for 11 common acute-care conditions were to a retail clinic. Increased use was especially dramatic among young, healthy, and higher-income individuals.
Affordability benchmarks and premium-contribution requirements for Children's Health Insurance Program expansions in three states vary substantially, underscoring the ambiguity and subjectivity of affordability standards.
Approaching disparities through a public health framework can provide the foundation for developing more robust evidence to inform additional policies for improving access and reducing disparities.
Access to care and care quality for those with insurance are poorer in communities in which many individuals are uninsured.
If the Affordable Care Act is to successfully expand health care coverage and access for those who most need it, states must implement strategies to ensure that those eligible for coverage are appropriately and efficiently enrolled.
Examines the progress that Qatar has made in implementing a comprehensive reform, begun in 2002, of its K-12 education system.
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