Health Care Utilization Paper: Option B

Health Care Utilization Paper: Option B The number of health care services people use determines health care utilization. John Q is facing a situation that is far too common these days. He is in need of health care services; however, factors beyond his control are preventing him from getting the help he needs. There are many factors that can affect health care utilization, including demographics, social structure, and insurance status. Barsukiewicz, Raffel, and Raffel state that these factors are either mutable and can be changed or immutable and therefore cannot be changed (2010). For instance, age, gender, and ethnicity are immutable factors, whereas income, insurance status, and transportation are mutable factors. Both immutable and mutable factors influence health care utilization, so as a country with a very large and diverse population the U.S. needs to consider change where it is necessary (Barsukiewicz et al., 2010). As the U.S. population and life expectancy continue to increase, age will have a strong influence on health care utilization. People while living longer are not necessarily healthier; consequently this affects the use of health care services. As the use of health care services increase so does health care utilization, which leads to an increase in costs. Gender is another influential factor. Trends show that as a whole, women seek more treatment than men and according to Bertakis, Rahman, Helms, Callahan, and Robbins (2000): Several explanations have been offered. These differences may be associated with reproductive biology and conditions specific to gender, higher rates of morbidity in women than in men, differences in health perceptions and the reporting of symptoms and illnesses, or a greater likelihood that women seek help for prevention and illness. (para. 1)
Ethnicity is also a factor that should be considered when discussing health care utilization. An individual’s ethnicity determines his or her cultural

References: Barsukiewicz, C.K., Raffel, M.W., & Raffel, N.K. (2010). The U.S. health system: Origins and functions (6th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Bertakis, K.D., Rahman, A., & Helms, J., Callahan, E.J., Robbins, J. (2000, February). Gender Differences in the Utilization of Health Care Services. The Journal of Family Practice, 49(2), 147-152. Retrieved from http://www.jfponline.com/purls/Pages.asp?AID=2450 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html