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Indicator Definition
Adults (ages 65 and older) who report having one or more individuals they think of as their personal doctor or health care provider.

Older adults who report a regular source of medical care in Colorado4

Older adults who report a regular source of medical care by income in Colorado5

Indicator Significance 
An estimated 80 percent of older Americans live with a single chronic health condition and 50 percent live with two or more. With the graying of the population, health care spending is likely to increase by 25 percent by 2030. Medical care for older adults costs three to five times more than that provided to those under age 65. Having a regular source of medical care is especially critical for older adults because they so often must manage chronic health problems. Regular contact with a primary physician can ensure that older adults are regularly screened for common age-related diseases and that health conditions that occur during the aging process are properly managed.¹

Colorado Specifics 
Nearly 95 percent of older Coloradans report that they have a regular source of health care, a number that has remained stable since 2000. Yet even higher proportions of older adults in 27 other states report having a regular source of care. Older adults with higher incomes are only slightly more likely to have a regular source of care than those with lower incomes. Access to a regular source of care for older adults is superior to that for working age adults (76 percent) and especially so for children (62 percent). Income is much more strongly related to children and working-age adults having a regular source of care than among older adults. The near universal enrollment of older adults in Medicare is the likely explanation for this difference. Nevertheless, concern is growing that low-income older adults will have increasing difficulty securing a regular source of care as more physicians refuse to accept Medicare reimbursement rates.

Promising Initiatives
In Colorado
The Colorado Trust recently launched a four-year, $6.5 million Healthy Aging initiative. This statewide initiative has provided grants to 20 community-based organizations to strengthen and expand access to services for older adults, including training for caregivers of older adults, and wellness programs tailored to older adults.²

Elsewhere
The Patient Safety Health Care Network of North Iowa is a coalition of nine rural primary care hospitals that serve 14 sparsely populated and economically depressed rural counties. The counties have a high percentage of elderly residents (19 percent). All 14 counties are medically underserved. The network is developing and implementing a patient safety plan to improve the quality of care provided to residents. Concern about adverse drug reactions is a high priority. This region of the state has experienced an exodus of health care professionals, making access to primary care an even more troublesome issue. The network is now developing uniform standards for documenting and tracking data among the participating hospitals to improve patient care.³ 

Older adults who report a regular source of medical care⁶

Text

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The State of Aging and Health in America 2007”; 2007.
   
2. The Colorado Trust. “$6.5 Million Colorado Trust Initiative to Strengthen Services for Colorado Seniors”; June 4, 2007.
   
3. Health Resources and Services Administration. “Rural Health Development Grantees by State, FY2005.”
   

Charts

4. Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2000 – 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
5. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
6. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.