Description
For all persons eligible for the Access to Care section (ACCESSELIG) with a usual source of care (USUALPL), USCPROTHCARE indicates whether the individual's usual source of care medical provider usually asks about prescription medications and treatments other doctors may give them. For those whose usual source of care provider is a facility (USCPRFAC), USCPROTHCARE asks about "a medical person at" their usual source of care. USCPROTHCARE is collected as part of the Access to Care section, which gathers information on usual source of care for all family members, characteristics of usual source of care health providers, and barriers family members have faced in obtaining needed health care. Please see ACCESSELIG for more information on the Access to Care section.
IPUMS MEPS reports the universe for each variable based on a thorough review of the original MEPS documentation. Investigating the data may reveal cases that do not meet the stated universe. Users are encouraged to validate universes for their analyses.
Related Variables
The Access to Care section collects information about the respondent's satisfaction with their usual source of care provider. In addition to USCPROTHCARE, the following information is collected:
- USCPRLSTN: Usual medical provider listens and provides needed health information
- USCPRRSPCT: Usual medical provider shows respect for treatments person is happy with
- USCPRCHOICE: Usual medical provider asks person to help decide between choice of treatments
- USCPRCTRL: Usual medical provider gives person some control over their treatment
- USCPREXPLN: Usual medical provider presents and explains all options
- USCPRCNFDT: Confident in usual medical provider's ability to help with medical problems
- USCPRSATSTAF: Satisfaction with staff at usual medical provider
- USCPRSATQLT: Satisfaction with quality of care from usual medical provider
Codes and Frequencies
Comparability
Users should note that the Access to Care variables are not designed to yield full-year estimates in 1997, as the section is only administered in Round 2 instead of Rounds 2 and 4. The 1997 AHRQ documentation advises that "[t]he 1997 Access to Care variables cannot be used to make full-year estimates, but can be useful in such analyses as trend analyses, or for enhancing subgroup analyses. These variables may be of particular interest because of the 1997 oversample of populations (such as poverty, children with activity limitations, adults with functional limitations, high medical expenditure cases, and the elderly) where access issues are particularly relevant" (C-16). Because USCPROTHCARE is only collected in Round 2 in 1997 instead of Rounds 2 and 4, USCPROTHCARE cannot be used to make a full-year estimate in 1997. Otherwise, this variable is comparable over time.
Universe
- 1996-2021: All persons eligible for the Access to Care section (ACCESSELIG) with a usual source of care (USUALPL).
Availability
- 1996-2021
Weights
- 1996-2021 : PERWEIGHT
