Table 4. Ambulatory Care Use

 

Average number of visits1

Percent of visits at hospital emergency departments2

U.S. population

4.5

8.7

Insurance status    
Medicare 6.9* 5.6*
Private 4.1* 7.6*
Medicaid and other public coverage 6.2* 12.3*
Uninsured 2.6* 17.4*
     

Uninsured by community

   

Cleveland, Ohio

3.1

21.2

Lansing, Mich.

2.9

16.2

Syracuse, N.Y.

3.4

17.4

Miami, Fla.

2.0*

17.2

Little Rock, Ark.

2.8

21.6

Seattle, Wash.

2.3

15.9

Indianapolis, Ind.

2.8

17.4

Phoenix, Ariz.

2.0

15.9

Boston, Mass.

3.0

26.0*

Greenville, S.C.

3.7*

19.4

Orange County, Calif.

1.8*

13.9

Newark, N.J.

2.5

20.9

     

All metropolitan areas > 200,000 persons

2.5

17.5

Metropolitan areas < 200,000 persons

2.7

16.7

Nonmetropolitan areas

2.9

17.3

*For insurance groups, difference with total U.S. population is statistically significant (p < .05). For estimates relating to specific communities or type of community, difference with all metro areas > 200,000 persons is statistically significant (p <. .05).

All site-specific estimates were adjusted to control for differences across communities on the following factors: health status, age, gender, family size, education, family income, race/ethnicity and whether the interview was conducted in Spanish.

1Refers to ambulatory visits in all settings, including physicians’ offices, clinics, hospital emergency departments and outpatient centers, freestanding urgent health care and ambulatory surgery centers.

2Includes only persons with at least one ambulatory visit in the previous year.

Source: Original analysis of the Community Tracking Study Household Survey, 1996-1997.