Dr. Tymkow's research (continued)
The Access to Care Program of the Suburban Primary Care Council is an example of a successful private/public partnership to increase primary care services to the uninsured in Suburban Cook County, IL. Other programs for the uninsured have been implemented across the country. However, there is little research on the impact of these programs on health care outcomes, emergency room visits, and overall health care costs.
Participants
There is a diverse mix of enrollees with 31.1% whites, 13.5% African-Americans, 41.1% Hispanics, 14.5%, Asian/Pacific Islanders, 0.006% Native Americans/Alaskans, and 0.06% Others (self-identified).
Objective
The primary purpose of this project is to determine the impact of the ATC program on ED utilization among participants as compared to non-participant uninsured individuals. A secondary aim is to estimate the impact on ED cost related to ED use among ATC enrollees.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework for this project is based on the work of Anderson (1973; 1995), on behavioral model and individual determinants of medical utilization and access to care.
Study Design
The research design is a post-test only quasi-experimental design. Participants currently enrolled in the Access to Care Program being the experimental group (01) and new participants or those on the Access to Care waiting list being the comparison group (02).
Sample and Instrument. Simple randomization will be conducted for the ATC and the control groups, respectively. Mailed surveys using a validated and reliable instrument adapted from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and three-year ED cost data (2001-2004) from three participating hospitals who serve ATC participants will be used.
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