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Trends in Office-Based Care for Reproductive-Aged Women According to Physician Specialty: A Ten-Year Study

2014

AUTHOR(S)
Petterson, Stephen M
Bazemore, Andrew W
Phillips, Robert L
Rayburn, William F
VOLUME
23(12):1021-1026
SOURCE
Journal of Women's Health

Background: The anticipated increase in access to health care has prompted an interest in where women go for their ofufb01ce-based care. The objectives of this study were to examine which types of ofufb01ce site are chosen by reproductive-aged women for their health care and to compare the reasons for their visits among these sites. Methods: This descriptive study involved an analysis of national data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey between 2002 and 2011. We restricted the analysis to a nationally representative group of women between 19 and 39 years old (n = 45,133). Interviews with patients were used to identify the patient's demographics, type of physician seen, and main reason for each self-reported ofufb01ce visit (n = 208,814). Results: One in four women did not go to a physician's ofufb01ce each year. Nearly all who sought some sort of ofufb01ce-based care went to family physicians, ob-gyns, or a combination. For the women who did go to a physician's ofufb01ce, going only to a family physician's ofufb01ce was most common (42.6%). In contrast, 28.6% of these women visited only an ob-gyn ofufb01ce, and an additional 21.5% went to ofufb01ces of a family physician or general internist as well as an ob-gyn physician. Visits only to ofufb01ces of ob-gyns were highest among women who were married and healthy. Compared with family physicians or internists, the percentages of ofufb01ce visits to an ob-gyn were more likely for pregnancy (57.0% vs. 2.8%), about the same for a general check-up (23.6% vs. 29.2%), and less for diagnosis or treatment (13.7% vs. 55.5%). Those who went to ob-gyn ofufb01ces were most apt to return for several visits per year. Conclusion: Almost all health care sought by women aged 19 to 39 in a year is to ob-gyns or family physicians, and signiufb01cant sharing of care exists across these provider groups. While most visits to family physicians were for diagnosis or treatment, the majority of visits to ob-gyn were for pregnancy-related care.

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