2023-09-28 14:46:10 +00:00
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abstract: 'Disparities in unmet health care demand resulting from socioeconomic,
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racial, and financial factors have received a great deal of attention in
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the United States. However, out-of-pocket costs alone do not fully
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reflect the total opportunity cost that patients must consider as they
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seek medical attention. While there is an extensive literature on the
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price elasticity of demand for health care, empirical evidence regarding
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the effect of waiting time on utilization is sparse. Using the
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nationally representative 2003 Community Tracking Study Household
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Survey, the most recent iteration containing respondents'' physician
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office visit frequency and estimated in-office waiting time in the
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United States (N = 23,484), we investigated the association between
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waiting time and calculated time cost with the number of physician
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visits among a sample of working-age adults. To avoid the bias that
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literature suggests would result from excluding respondents with zero
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physician visits, we imputed waiting time for the essential inclusion of
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such individuals. On average, respondents visited physician offices 3.55
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times, during which time they waited 28.7 mm. The estimates from a
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negative binomial model indicated that a doubling of waiting time was
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associated with a 7.7 percent decrease (p-value < 0.001) in physician
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visit frequency. For women and unemployed respondents, who visited
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physicians more frequently, the decrease was even larger, suggesting a
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stronger response to greater waiting times. We believe this finding
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reflects the discretionary nature of incremental visits in these groups,
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and a consequent lower perceived marginal benefit of additional visits.
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The results suggest that in-office waiting time may have a substantial
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influence on patients'' propensity to seek medical attention. Although
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there is a belief that expansions in health insurance coverage increase
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health care utilization by reducing financial barriers to access, our
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results suggest that unintended consequences may arise if in-office
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waiting time increases. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.'
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affiliation: 'Tak, HJ (Corresponding Author), Univ N Texas, Hlth Sci Ctr, Dept Hlth
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Management \& Policy, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd,EAD 601R, Ft Worth, TX 76107 USA.
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Tak, Hyo Jung, Univ N Texas, Hlth Sci Ctr, Dept Hlth Management \& Policy, Ft Worth,
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TX 76107 USA.
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Hougham, Gavin W.; Ruhnke, Gregory W., Univ Chicago, Dept Med, Sect Hosp Med, Chicago,
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IL 60637 USA.
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Hougham, Gavin W., Univ Chicago, Ctr Hlth \& Social Sci, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.'
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author: Tak, Hyo Jung and Hougham, Gavin W. and Ruhnke, Atsuko and Ruhnke, Gregory
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W.
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author-email: 'hyojung.tak@unthsc.edu
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ghougham@bsd.uchicago.edu
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atsuko.daibo@gmail.com
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gruhnke@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu'
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author_list:
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- family: Tak
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given: Hyo Jung
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- family: Hougham
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given: Gavin W.
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- family: Ruhnke
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given: Atsuko
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- family: Ruhnke
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given: Gregory W.
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.053
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eissn: 1873-5347
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files: []
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issn: 0277-9536
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journal: SOCIAL SCIENCE \& MEDICINE
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keywords: USA; Waiting time; Time cost; Medical care demand; Health policy
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keywords-plus: 'MEDICAL-CARE; HEALTH-CARE; SERVICES; QUALITY; CENTERS; DEMAND; GENDER;
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COSTS; PRICE'
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language: English
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month: OCT
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number-of-cited-references: '41'
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orcid-numbers: Hougham, Gavin Wade/0000-0001-7006-1835
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pages: 43-51
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papis_id: 3880df2c4deab044850f2983f5700b3e
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ref: Tak2014effectinoffice
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researcherid-numbers: Hougham, Gavin Wade/F-4554-2012
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times-cited: '11'
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title: The effect of in-office waiting time on physician visit frequency among working-age
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adults
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2023-10-01 08:15:07 +00:00
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type: article
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2023-09-28 14:46:10 +00:00
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unique-id: WOS:000342880900006
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usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
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usage-count-since-2013: '13'
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volume: '118'
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web-of-science-categories: 'Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health; Social Sciences,
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Biomedical'
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year: '2014'
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