Access to healthcare and disparities in access (AHRQ, December 2021)

Summary

Access to healthcare means having “the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best health outcomes.” Access to comprehensive, quality healthcare services is important for promoting and maintaining health, preventing and managing disease, reducing unnecessary disability and premature death, and achieving health equity for all Americans. Attaining good access to care means having:

• Health insurance that facilitates entry into the healthcare system.
• Timely access to needed care.
• A usual source of care with whom the patient can develop a relationship.
• The ability to receive care when there is a perceived need for care.

Content

Measures of access to care tracked in the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR) include having health insurance, having a usual source of care, encountering difficulties when seeking care, and receiving care as soon as wanted.

Historically, Americans have experienced variable access to care based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and residential location. This section of the NHQDR discusses trends in access over time and disparities in access related to the sociodemographic variables for which data were available.

Of the nine measures assessed, five access measures were improving. Of the measures that showed improvement:

• Two measures were related to health insurance.
• Two measures were related to timely access to care.
• One measure was related to patient perception of need.

One measure related to patient perception of need was worsening. The remaining three measures showed no statistically significant changes.