profession
20% of Americans have no regular physician
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 24, 2011
One in five Americans has no "usual source of care" -- a particular physician's office or clinic they would visit for medical care -- according to a December 2010 report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Nearly two-thirds of people with no regular physician told researchers they were "never sick" and did not need one. However, 14% of patients said the high cost of care prevented them from establishing a relationship with a physician or a clinic.
Cost was more of a problem for Hispanics than other racial and ethnic groups, with 22% citing cost as the main reason for not having a physician. Meanwhile, Asian-Americans were most likely to say they had no doctor because they did not like or trust physicians, with 12% citing that as the main reason, compared with 3% of white Americans.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/01/24/prbf0124.htm.
