Access to health care is way overrated.
A study released this week concludes that people who do not receive an annual check-up have the same likelihood of being hospitalized for a chronic condition that those who see a doctor once a year. And people in cities that have a much higher number of doctors per capita (like White Plains, New York) are often much less likely to see a doctor annually than those who live in cities with much fewer doctors per capita (like Wilmington, N.C.).
One of the most telling conclusions of the study was that the color of a person’s skin was not as important as where a person lived when it came to use of primary care, quality of that care and the likelihood for hospitalization.
The study was pulled together by the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which scoured the general health data of Medicare beneficiaries only. Ultimately, the study offered two important ingredients that are a must in order for patients to receive the benefits of primary care: 1) the services provided by primary care clinicians must improve, and 2) the clinicians must more effectively integrate and coordinate with specialists and other providers to achieve a better outcome for the patient – which is difficult in remote areas.
It also seems, according to the authors of the study, that patients who are most in need of 
care are not receiving it efficiently enough, or at all, before it’s too late.
And as mentioned earlier in this post, geography has a lot to do with the ultimate patient outcome. So, although the study did not make a formal proposition, it would make sense to identify the geographical areas of undesirable patient outcomes (which may go hand-in-hand with quality of care), and provide funding and education for those areas.
We specialize in providing our over 1,000,000 customers with relevant product and condition information created by our professional editorial staff which includes our team of medical writers, medical practitioners, and health educators. eDrugStore.com Staff on Facebook