The Effects of Having a Regular Doctor on Access to Primary Care
Abstract
The authors assessed the relationship between having a regular doctor and access to care, as measured by a set of preventive and primary care utilization indicators recommended by the Institute of Medicine. The 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey was used in the analyses (n = 30,012). The results of the regression analyses suggest that individuals with any type of regular source of care had better access than those without a regular source of care. Persons with a regular doctor had better access to primary care than those with a regular site but no regular doctor. However, the apparent advantage of having a regular doctor over a regular site disappeared when only those individuals reporting a physician's office, clinic, or health maintenance organization as their regular source of care were compared. These results suggest that policies that promote the doctor-patient relationship will increase access, although the gains may be negligible for individuals who use mainstream primary care sites (physician's office, clinic, or health maintenance organization) versus sites such as walk-in clinics or emergency rooms.
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Having a regular primary care provider is associated with better preventive care, disease management, care coordination, access to care, continuity of care, and health outcomes.
“Patients with a regular primary care provider – most commonly a family physician – benefit from better preventive care, disease management, care coordination, access to care, continuity of care, and health outcomes [1–6].”
Having a regular primary care provider, as opposed to only having a usual source of care or regular practice, is associated with more preventive care, better chronic disease and medication management, and improved access to care.
“previous studies have found that having a regular primary care provider, as opposed to only having a usual source of care or regular practice, is associated with more preventive care [75, 76], better chronic disease and medication management [77], and improved access to care [3].”
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“While continuity is desirable at both physician and practice level, previous studies have found that having a regular primary care provider, as opposed to only having a usual source of care or regular practice, is associated with more preventive care [75, 76], better chronic disease and medication management [77], and…”
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- Authors
- LAMBREW, J. M., DEFRIESE, G. H., CAREY, T. S., RICKETTS, T. C., & BIDDLE, A. K.
- Affiliations
- United States Department of Health and Human Services (US)
- Venue
- Medical Care
- Published
- 1996-02
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 138-151
- ISSN
- 0025-7079 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1968248796
- Cited by
- 274
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 26.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medical Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Healthcare Policy and Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Keywords
- primary care access, preventive care utilization, primary care utilization, physician-patient relationship, health maintenance organizations, physician offices, walk-in clinics, emergency department utilization
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Ambulatory Care, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Health Maintenance Organizations, Health Services Accessibility, Health Services Research, Humans, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Office Visits, Physician-Patient Relations, Primary Health Care, Regression Analysis, United States, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division
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