Statistical Brief # 8 

Access to Urgent Medical Care: 2001 

By: Janet Greenblatt, MPH 

The quality of the health care received by Americans is an issue of public policy concern for 

several reasons. First, the level of quality of the health care delivery system affects the capacity to 

provide timely, accessible, effective and efficient medical care to the population in need of 

services. Second, estimates of quality are vital to evaluate the costs and outcomes of health care 

delivery and to help identify potential areas where improvements are necessary. Finally, all 

components of the population may not be receiving care equally. Following these population 

subgroups over time can provide information about whether greater equity has been achieved or 

whether serious gaps remain. The first self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) was added to the 

2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to collect information on health care utilization, 

access, health status and the quality of health care received. The quality of care measures were 

taken from an AHRQ-sponsored instrument, the Consumer Assessments of Health Plans 

(CAHPS®). The second SAQ was administered in late 2001 and early 2002. This MEPS 

Statistical Brief presents preliminary findings based on the data obtained from the 2001 SAQ. All 

of the questions refer to events experienced in the last 12 months. Only differences that are 

statistically significant at the 0.05 level are discussed in the text. 

ACCESS TO CARE: Getting urgent care when needed 

Overall in 2001, 32.8% of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population age 18 or older (67.0 

million) reported that they had an illness or injury that needed care right away from a doctor=s 

office, clinic, or emergency room. More than half of those needing urgent care (56.9%) said they 

always received care as soon as they wanted. Older people were more likely than adults under age 

65 to say they needed urgent care (37.3% for age 65 and older and 31.9% for age 18-64) and of 

those needing care, older people were more likely than adults under age 65 to say they always 

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received care as soon as they wanted (68.1% for age 65 and older and 54.5% for age 18-64) 

(figure 1). Among those age 18-64, whites and blacks were more likely than Hispanics and others 

to say they needed urgent care (33.3% of whites, 33.0% of blacks, 25.2% of Hispanics and 24.7% 

of others) and among those needing care, whites were less likely than the other race/ethnicity 

groups to say they sometimes or never received care as soon as they wanted (14.3% of whites, 

20.3% of blacks, 24.2% of Hispanics and 28.6% of others) (figure 2) The percent of Hispanics 

age 18-64 saying they always received care as soon as they wanted increased to 49.9% in 2001 

from 41.2% in 2000. Also among those age 18-64, adults with only public insurance were the 

most likely to report having an illness or injury needing urgent care and the insured were more 

likely than the uninsured to report needing urgent care (41.3% for public only, 32.2% for any 

private, and 27.4% for uninsured). Among those age 18-64 getting urgent care, the uninsured were 

more likely than those with insurance to report sometimes or never receiving care as soon as they 

wanted (26.2% of uninsured, 19.9% of public only, 13.8% of any private) (figure 3) This pattern 

is consistent with the differences noted in 2000 between those with coverage and the uninsured. 

About MEPS and CAHPS7

This Statistical Brief summarizes an access and quality of care measure pertaining to the health 

care received by the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The Medical 

Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and 

Quality (AHRQ). The health care quality measures used for this study were taken from the 

Consumer Assessments of Health Plans (CAHPS7), an AHRQ sponsored instrument to measure 

quality of care by consumers. A conditional response rate of 87% was achieved for the MEPS 

self-administered questionnaire, yielding an overall response rate of 61% for the survey (21,435 

respondents to the SAQ). Specific item nonresponse rates generally varied from 1 to 4 percent for 

the SAQ questions. More information about MEPS can be obtained through the MEPS website at 

www.meps.ahrq.gov. More information about CAHPS7 can be obtained through the CAHPS7 

website (www.cahps-sun.org) or on the AHRQ website (www.ahrq.gov). 

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