Health Care Utilization Paper

Health Care utilization is one of the most controversial topics in the health system today. One of the main issues that Americans face today is the lack of adequate health care utilization. According to “University Of Manitoba” (2010), “Utilization of health care measure of the population’s use of the health care services available to them.” Factors that affect the utilization of health care can be both mutable and immutable. Mutable factors are those that are subject to change. Immutable factors are things that are unchangeable, such as race and gender. Anderson (2009), “the general belief that certain population groups such as the “poor,” blacks, Spanish-speaking Americans, American Indians, and inner city and rural residents, are not receiving medical care which is comparable in terms of quality and quantity that is available to the rest of the population.” Those who live in rural areas are hit the hardest when it comes to poor health care utilization. The reason being is because both mutable and immutable factors. A man by the name of John Q just recently moved to a rural area. He is on Medicaid because of his low income. He has a family history of heart attacks and is struggling with high blood pressure. He doesn’t own a vehicle.

John’s case is so common in today’s society. In John’s is dealing with factors that are unfortunately beyond his control. The fact that john has recently moved to a rural area is one problem. There are not many health care facilities in rural areas that accept Medicaid. John doesn’t own a vehicle which is an enabling factor. By him not having a vehicle ha has to rely on public transportation to get to and from. The form of insurance John has is also a factor because it doesn’t have that effective amount of coverage he needs. He has to go 40-minute up the road to closest physician who accepts Medicaid. That can be difficult when you don’t have transportation. It is also a big inconvenience because he has to make his appointment 2-weeks in advance. Being that is the closest physician office that receives Medicaid; they have a lot of patients. John will also have to take off work to have a doctor’s visit because they don’t have weekend and evening hours. John is facing a numbers of factors that affect his utilization. In order for john to fix this problem he would have to figure out which factors can be changed and how.

The factors that John has can be characterized as both mutable and immutable. His gender is a mutable factor because it can’t be changed. John having high blood pressure which is a probably hereditary but can be a mutable factor if John takes the proper precautions such as, eating right and living a healthy lifestyle. Most of the factors are predisposing such as the environment and genetics. The environment in which John stays in has a huge impact on his health care utilization. One way that John can change his situation is by finding a new job with better pay so that he can afford better insurance coverage that allows him the flexibility to see a physician closer to him.

This will limit his transportation problem also. He can easily find a bus route that’s close. Another way that John can change his situation is by saving up for a vehicle. With a vehicle john will be able to drive the 40-minutes to the physician who accepts Medicaid. John is facing issues that many Americans deal with. Health care utilization has a big impact on a person’s well-being. A job that pays little to nothing can also have an effect on your health utilization. If you a person cannot afford good health insurance most likely they will go without or either seeks other insurance that may not be too good, but it’s all they could afford. Jobs are scarce and most jobs pay little to nothing. Health care utilization will continue to be a problem for people like John if things stay the same.

References
Anderson, R. M. (1995). Revising the behavioral model and access to medical care: Does it matter? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 1-10