Table 11_1_3-2

2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 11_1_3.2
Adults who needed care right away for an illness, injury, or condition in the last 12 months who got care as soon as wanted, United States, 2002
Population group		Total population (in thousands)^d	Percent had appointment	Appointment as soon as wanted
				Always		Usually		Sometimes or never
				Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		211,389	29.9	57.7	0.8	27.0	0.7	15.3	0.5
Age	18–44	109,805	27.1	52.3	1.1	28.3	1.0	19.4	0.8
	45–64	67,411	31.2	58.5	1.4	28.1	1.1	13.4	0.8
	65 and over	34,173	36.3	69.5	1.6	21.9	1.4	8.5	0.8
Gender	Male	101,486	26.8	57.3	1.1	26.8	0.9	15.9	0.8
Gender	Female	109,904	32.8	58.0	0.9	27.2	0.8	14.9	0.6
Race	White, single race	174,268	29.7	58.5	0.8	27.0	0.8	14.5	0.5
	Black, single race	23,794	32.2	56.5	1.9	24.5	1.5	19.0	1.6
	Asian, single race	8,739	20.3	43.3	4.5	34.0	4.5	22.7	3.6
	NHOPI, single race	569	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	1,765	37.1	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	2,254	48.6	50.3	5.7	33.9	5.3	15.8	3.6
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	185,541	30.3	59.2	0.8	26.8	0.7	14.1	0.5
	Non-Hispanic, White	149,367	30.3	60.5	0.9	26.6	0.8	12.9	0.6
	Non-Hispanic, Black	23,442	32.1	56.5	1.9	24.6	1.5	18.9	1.6
	Hispanic	25,849	26.6	45.1	1.8	29.1	1.7	25.8	1.7
Family income^a	Negative/poor	22,136	36.6	51.1	1.7	26.1	1.5	22.8	1.3
	Near poor/low	36,048	33.7	52.6	1.5	27.1	1.3	20.3	1.1
	Middle	66,429	29.0	56.7	1.3	27.4	1.2	15.9	0.9
	High	86,776	27.3	63.1	1.3	27.0	1.2	9.9	0.7
Education^b	Less than high school	44,519	33.3	52.3	1.4	25.6	1.3	22.1	1.1
	High school graduate	69,198	30.3	58.8	1.3	28.0	1.2	13.2	0.8
	At least some college	96,344	28.1	59.7	1.2	27.0	1.1	13.3	0.7
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	142,664	27.0	55.6	1.0	28.5	0.9	15.9	0.6
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	34,543	35.7	52.5	1.5	27.3	1.3	20.2	1.2
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	134,592	28.0	57.9	1.0	28.4	0.9	13.7	0.6
	Public only	14,896	44.4	51.0	1.9	29.3	1.6	19.7	1.3
	Uninsured	27,728	23.7	41.1	2.0	26.1	1.7	32.8	1.8
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	9,790	36.0	65.3	3.2	25.5	2.8	9.2	1.8
	Medicare and private	20,417	35.6	72.8	2.1	20.8	1.9	6.4	1.0
	Medicare and other public	3,692	43.1	64.6	3.2	18.5	2.7	16.9	2.8
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	176,407	29.2	57.1	0.9	27.2	0.8	15.7	0.6
	Large central metro	64,336	28.5	53.4	1.3	27.1	1.1	19.5	1.0
	Large fringe metro	50,250	27.9	60.8	1.7	26.9	1.4	12.4	1.1
	Medium metro	43,344	30.7	57.8	1.9	27.8	1.8	14.3	0.9
	Small metro	18,478	31.8	58.1	2.2	26.8	2.0	15.1	1.2
	Nonmetropolitan	34,982	33.4	60.1	1.4	26.3	1.3	13.5	1.0
	Micropolitan	23,481	33.3	60.2	1.7	25.9	1.4	13.9	1.2
	Noncore	11,501	33.5	59.9	2.9	27.2	2.7	12.9	2.0
Language spoken most often at home	English	187,887	30.7	58.7	0.8	27.0	0.7	14.2	0.5
Language spoken most often at home	Other	23,440	23.7	46.5	2.0	27.0	2.1	26.5	1.9
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	183,616	26.4	59.1	0.9	26.8	0.8	14.1	0.5
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	27,773	53.2	53.0	1.3	27.7	1.1	19.3	1.1
Activity limitations^c	Basic activities	27,816	48.9	57.9	1.3	26.9	1.4	15.2	1.0
	Complex activities	16,562	54.0	53.8	1.7	30.3	1.5	15.9	1.2
	Neither basic nor complex activities	178,922	26.5	58.1	0.9	26.8	0.8	15.1	0.5

^a Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, at or over the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; middle, 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and high, 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^b Less than high school refers to fewer than 12 years of education; high school graduate, 12 years of education; and at least some college, more than 12 years of education.

^c For more information, see the MEPS entry in Appendix A, Data Sources.

^d Total adult population, age 18 and over. Numbers may not add to total due to missing values or rounding.

* - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Current as of September 2009

Internet Citation: Table 11_1_3-2: 2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. September 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr08/11_timeliness/T11_1_3-2.html