Middle-Aged and Older Adult Health Care Selection

This study assesses the prevalence of primary-care physician (PCP) bypass among rural middle-aged and older adults. Bypass is a behavior where people travel beyond local providers to obtain health care. This article applies a precise Geographic Information System (GIS)-based measure of bypass and ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied gerontology 2017-04, Vol.36 (4), p.441-461
Main Authors: Sanders, Scott R, Erickson, Lance D, Call, Vaughn R A, McKnight, Matthew L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Female
Geographic Information Systems
Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Montana
Multivariate Analysis
Patient Satisfaction - statistics & numerical data
Primary Health Care - utilization
Quality of Health Care
Rural Health Services - utilization
Rural Population
Socioeconomic Factors
Time Factors
Transportation
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Summary:This study assesses the prevalence of primary-care physician (PCP) bypass among rural middle-aged and older adults. Bypass is a behavior where people travel beyond local providers to obtain health care. This article applies a precise Geographic Information System (GIS)-based measure of bypass and examines the role of community and non-health-care-related characteristics on bypass. Our results indicate that bypass behavior among rural middle-aged and older adults is multifaceted. In addition to the perceived quality of local primary care, dissatisfaction with local services, such as shopping, creates an effect that increases the likelihood of bypass, whereas strong community ties decrease the likelihood of bypass. The results suggest that the "outshopping theory," where respondents select services in larger regional economic centers rather than local "mom and pop" providers, now extends to older adult health care selection.
ISSN:1552-4523
DOI:10.1177/0733464815602108