A quantitative index of access to primary medical care for health planning

The emphasis of Public Law 93–641 on numerical goals of health care, as elaborated upon by the National Health Planning Council in its guidelines, foreshadows the emergence of quantitative indices in many areas of health resources utilization and health outcomes. In the area of access to primary medical care, the guidelines spell out in detail what is considered the reasonable waiting period for an appointment, travelling time to the source of care, and in-office waiting time for individuals seeking care. An index of access is developed on the basis of these reasonable limits of waiting for health services research and planning purposes. An example of hypothesis-testing with hypothetical data is given, along with a caveat in the interpretation of the results.