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Impact of behavioral health problems on access to care and health services utilization

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Abstract

Access to specialists for treatment of behavioral health problems has become restricted in this era of capped budgets and reductions in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Patients with multiple mental health problems may face additional barriers to obtaining needed health care services. The study's aim was to measure the impact of behavioral health problems on access to care and health services utilization for veterans and non-veterans and to determine the contribution of health system characteristics in the prediction of self-reported health services utilization. The study sample consisted of Vietnam veterans who participated in both the Vietnam Drug User Study (September 1971 Army discharges) and the Vietnam Era Study (25-year follow-up) (N=642), as well as a non-veteran cohort (N=197).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Saint Louis, U.S.A.

    Katherine S. Virgo

  2. Washington University School of Medicine, U.S.A.

    Rumi Kato Price

Authors
  1. Katherine S. Virgo
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  2. Nathan K. Risk
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  3. Edward L. Spitznagel
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  4. Rumi Kato Price
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Virgo, K.S., Risk, N.K., Spitznagel, E.L. et al. Impact of behavioral health problems on access to care and health services utilization. Atlantic Economic Journal 32, 113–129 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02298829

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