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Access to Health Care and Preventable Hospitalizations

Access to Health Care and Preventable Hospitalizations To the Editor. —The article by Dr Bindman and colleagues1 and the Editorial by Dr Starfield2 conclude that improving access to care will reduce hospitalization rates for chronic conditions. The authors meticulously evaluated physician behavior by practice style and admitting criteria, but inexplicably ignored a far more important variable: disease-inducing patient behavior. Tobacco use, dietary factors, activity patterns, misuse of alcohol, and illicit drug use account for almost 40% of all deaths in the United States3 and are directly linked to the five medical conditions evaluated by Bindman et al (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension). Contrary to the authors' conclusions, I postulate that access to care has reached the point of diminishing returns. The United States dedicates 13% of its gross domestic product to health care,4 the highest in the world. Additional increments in access to medical care will http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

Access to Health Care and Preventable Hospitalizations

JAMA , Volume 274 (22) – Dec 13, 1995

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References (4)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.1995.03530220025017
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

To the Editor. —The article by Dr Bindman and colleagues1 and the Editorial by Dr Starfield2 conclude that improving access to care will reduce hospitalization rates for chronic conditions. The authors meticulously evaluated physician behavior by practice style and admitting criteria, but inexplicably ignored a far more important variable: disease-inducing patient behavior. Tobacco use, dietary factors, activity patterns, misuse of alcohol, and illicit drug use account for almost 40% of all deaths in the United States3 and are directly linked to the five medical conditions evaluated by Bindman et al (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension). Contrary to the authors' conclusions, I postulate that access to care has reached the point of diminishing returns. The United States dedicates 13% of its gross domestic product to health care,4 the highest in the world. Additional increments in access to medical care will

Journal

JAMAAmerican Medical Association

Published: Dec 13, 1995

There are no references for this article.