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Health Care Access

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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.

Essay
A Promising New Program Treats Co-Occurring Mental Health and Opioid Use Disorders
People who have an opioid use disorder and either clinical depression or PTSD are hard to reach, hard to treat, and hard to hold onto. A new collaborative care model called CLARO aims to help patients who otherwise might disappear into the cracks of the U.S. health care system.
Jul 3, 2023
Report
How to Strengthen Virginia's Health Care Workforce
Like the United States as a whole, Virginia faces a significant shortage of health care workers in nursing, primary care, and behavioral health. Multiple interventions could boost recruitment, retention, and the structural efficiency of health care delivered by these professions.
Nov 15, 2023

Explore Health Care Access

Report
The Benefits of Mental Health First Aid Training
More than 155,000 New Yorkers were trained in Mental Health First Aid between 2016 and 2020. They learned how to be active listeners, to provide reassurance and information, and to encourage professional care when appropriate. Most of the trainees ended up using their MHFA skills to support others and their own well-being.
Feb 7, 2023
Research Brief
Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts
In an evaluation of a city-wide effort to train New Yorkers in Mental Health First Aid, RAND researchers found that the majority of participants had used their skills to help friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers in the past six months.
Feb 7, 2023
Journal Article
Barriers to Using Clinical Decision Support in Ambulatory Care: Do Clinics in Health Systems Fare Better?
We quantify the use of clinical decision support (CDS) and the specific barriers reported by ambulatory clinics and examine whether CDS utilization and barriers differed based on clinics' affiliation with health systems.
Jan 27, 2023
Journal Article
Patterns in Geographic Distribution of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities in the US and Accepted Forms of Payment From 2010 to 2021
Researchers analyzed data to determine what proportion of the national population had local geographic availability to a licensed SUD treatment facility that accepted Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or cash.
Jan 25, 2023
Journal Article
Access to After-Hours Primary Care: A Key Determinant of Children's Medical Home Status
Accessibility, especially the ability to access health care after regular office hours, appears to be the major predictor of having a medical home among Latino children.
Jan 24, 2023
Commentary
Gender Biases in Health Care: Listen to Women About Their Own Health
More and more information, evidence, and personal stories are emerging suggesting women are not being listened to or believed by health care professionals about their symptoms of physical illness. There is ongoing work in the United Kingdom to improve and integrate women's health services, which creates hope for improvements.
Jan 19, 2023
News Release
Mental Health Telehealth Services Increased During Pandemic; Treatment Rates Increased for Some Disorders
Telehealth services for common mental health problems surged 16 to 20 fold during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than making up for a drop in in-person care that occurred during the period for a number of conditions.
Jan 6, 2023
Commentary
Informing the Debate About Telemedicine Reimbursement: What Do We Need to Know?
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. payers and policymakers broadly expanded payment for telemedicine services and relaxed many regulations. To decide the long-term fate of pandemic-era temporary telemedicine, policymakers should consider the effects of telemedicine on health care spending, patient outcomes, and health equity.
Nov 21, 2022
Journal Article
Paying for PrEP: A Qualitative Study of Cost Factors That Impact Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Uptake in the US
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 men who have sex with men who presented for routine health care at a STD clinic about their experiences with accessing and paying for PrEP.
Nov 11, 2022
News Release
Americans' Willingness to Use Video Telehealth Has Risen During COVID-19 Pandemic
Americans' use and willingness to use video telehealth has increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising most sharply among Black Americans and people with less education.
Nov 7, 2022
Q&A
Abortion After the Dobbs Decision: Q&A with RAND Researchers
The overturning of Roe v. Wade is likely to disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including U.S. service women and pregnant women with substance use disorders. And abortion misinformation will likely increase. RAND researchers discuss these issues and potential policy responses.
Oct 25, 2022
Journal Article
Expert Views on State-Level Naloxone Access Laws: A Qualitative Analysis of an Online Modified-Delphi Process
This qualitative study conducted a three-round modified-Delphi process using the online ExpertLens platform. Researchers identified and summarized the views of experts on state-level naloxone access laws.
Oct 7, 2022
Report
Health Care Consolidation: What Does the Evidence Say?
Hospital horizontal consolidation is associated with higher prices paid to providers. And there is some evidence of the same for vertical consolidation of hospitals and physician practices. What effect might the No Surprises Act—created to protect consumers from surprise medical bills—have on consolidation trends?
Sep 30, 2022
Journal Article
Economic Evaluation of Patient Direct Access to NHS Physiotherapy Services
Our aim was to undertake an economic evaluation of patient direct access to physiotherapy in the UK NHS by comparing the number of patients treated, waiting time, cost and health gain from a direct access pathway versus traditional GP-referral to NHS physiotherapy.
Sep 23, 2022
Multimedia
Wait Times for Veterans Scheduling Health Care Appointments
An overview of testimony by Carrie M. Farmer presented before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on September 21, 2022.
Sep 21, 2022
Testimony
Wait Times for Veterans Scheduling Health Care Appointments
There are no national standards for how long is too long for a patient to wait for a health care appointment. Better data about the timeliness and quality of VA Community Care are needed to help veterans make better-informed decisions. What are some recommended approaches to improve data collection and reporting?
Sep 21, 2022
Testimony
Women Veterans' Access to Reproductive Health Care
The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade could have a direct impact on women veterans’ health since abortion can be medically necessary. To meet women's fundamental health care needs, it is important for VA to be able to provide the full spectrum of reproductive health care.
Sep 15, 2022
Journal Article
Enhancing Access to and Diversity in Cancer Clinical Trials Through a Financial Reimbursement Program: Protocol to Evaluate a Novel Program
We implemented a financial reimbursement and outreach program designed to increase the number and diversity of participants in cancer clinical trials at centers in Dallas, Houston, and Philadelphia.
Sep 15, 2022
Journal Article
Barriers to Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CAR-T) Therapies in Clinical Practice
The barriers to the use of CAR-T therapy include complex logistics, manufacturing limitations, toxicity concerns, and financial burden. This review discusses solutions to overcome these barriers to make this therapy widely accessible.
Sep 15, 2022
Commentary
Tele-Palliative Care Among Underserved Patients: Considerations for Future Research to Ensure Equity for All Patients
Underserved patients have been historically marginalized in health care and may experience extensive barriers to palliative care. Telehealth may be a particularly promising mode of palliative care by engaging patients across long distances and facilitating access to existing palliative care resources.
Aug 31, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Health Care Access

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Heather Gomez-Bendaña

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND, and Ph.D. Candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Heather Gomez-Bendaña (she/her/ella) is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research interests include social determinants of health, special needs population, people with disabilities, health care access, health disparities, health…
Ashley M. Kranz

Senior Policy Researcher

Ashley Kranz is a senior policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She conducts health services research focused on improving access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes of vulnerable populations, including children and adults…

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