OBJECTIVE To determine whether Medicare coverage policies affect utilization of services in Medicare. DATA SOURCES We constructed an analysis data set for eight different procedures using secondary data obtained from Medicare claims (1999-2002) and Medicare coverage policies posted on Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services website. STUDY DESIGN We analyzed the impact of coverage policies...

Objective. Icelandic society is rapidly changing, from being an ethnically homogeneous population towards a multicultural immigrant society. In the hope of optimizing the service for immigrants at the health care centre, we decided to evaluate health care utilization by immigrants. Methods. As a case control study we invited all immigrants that attended the health care centre during a two-week ...

BACKGROUND Social inequalities in health are a characteristic of almost all European Welfare States. It has been estimated, that this is associated with annual costs that amount to approximately 9% of total member state GDP. We investigated the influence of inequalities in German health care utilization on direct medical costs. METHODS We used longitudinal data from a representative panel stu...

BACKGROUND Socioeconomic differences in health and in use of health care are well known. Most data on socioeconomic differences in health care utilization are based on retrospective self-report in community surveys, but the evidence on the validity of self-reported utilization of health care across socioeconomic groups is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of self-reporte...

OBJECTIVE The medical home likely has a positive effect on outpatient outcomes for children with asthma. However, no information is available regarding the impact of medical home quality on health care utilization after hospitalizations. We sought to explore the relationship between medical home quality and readmission risk in children hospitalized for asthma exacerbations. METHODS We enrolle...

This paper uses a novel dataset and research design to examine the effects of information networks on immigrants' access to health care. The dataset consists of an unusually large sample of undocumented immigrants and contains a direct indicator of information networks-whether an immigrant was referred to health care opportunities by a strong social tie (relative or friend). This measure allows...

BACKGROUND Modern health worries (MHW) are concerns related to modern or technological features of daily life (e.g., air pollution, x-rays, food additives, etc.), and have been associated with subjective health complaints (SHC) and health care use. PURPOSE The MHW scale was expected to predict aspects of health status in healthy individuals (e.g., health care visits, health perceptions, and m...

OBJECTIVE This article attests the association between self-rated health and health care utilization in a retired population by a narrative review. METHOD A systematic review was carried out from 1967 to 2007 to identify studies on self-rated health, in the databases MEDLINE, LILACS e SCIELO. The OVID software was used to Medline research. Contacts with experts were used. The key words retire...

Effects of early and extended postpartum contact and paraprofessional home visits on maternal attachment, reports of child abuse and neglect, and health care utilization were determined by random assignment of 321 low-income women to intervention or control groups immediately after delivery. Observations of maternal attachment were made at four months and 12 months. Hospital, health and welfare...