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Vermont Value:
Percentage of women ages 18-44 who reported having a personal doctor or health care provider
Vermont Rank:
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Percentage of women ages 18-44 who reported having a personal doctor or health care provider
US Value: 79.2%
Top State(s): New Hampshire: 90.9%
Bottom State(s): Texas: 67.3%
Definition: Percentage of women ages 18-44 who reported having a personal doctor or health care provider
Data Source and Years(s): CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2021
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2024.
Having a dedicated health care provider or a provider considered to be one’s personal doctor is associated with successful health care, including improvements in management of chronic conditions, such as hypertension and high cholesterol. Primary care providers specialize in establishing long-lasting relationships with patients and are their medical point of contact. They diagnose, treat and prevent a wide variety of conditions in a way that is tailored to each patient.
A regular provider can help with care coordination and continuity, particularly for women who often rely on at least two providers for routine care: obstetricians or gynecologists for reproductive care and primary care providers for general health care. Studies have found that women ages 20-64 with a usual place of care and usual provider are about four times more likely to receive a clinical breast exam and cervical cancer screening than women without either.
Populations of women more likely to report seeing a regular clinician for care include:
Strategies to increase the number of women with a dedicated health care provider include:
Increasing the proportion of people with a usual primary care provider is a Healthy People 2030 leading health indicator.
Blewett, Lynn A., Pamela Jo Johnson, Brian Lee, and Peter B. Scal. 2008. “When a Usual Source of Care and Usual Provider Matter: Adult Prevention and Screening Services.” Journal of General Internal Medicine 23 (9): 1354–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-008-0659-0.
Bodenheimer, Thomas S., and Mark D. Smith. 2013. “Primary Care: Proposed Solutions To The Physician Shortage Without Training More Physicians.” Health Affairs 32 (11): 1881–86. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0234.
Friedberg, Mark W., Peter S. Hussey, and Eric C. Schneider. 2010. “Primary Care: A Critical Review Of The Evidence On Quality And Costs Of Health Care.” Health Affairs 29 (5): 766–72. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0025.
Long, Michelle, Brittni Frederiksen, Usha Ranji, and 2021. n.d. “Women’s Health Care Utilization and Costs: Findings from the 2020 KFF Women’s Health Survey.” Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/womens-health-care-utilization-and-costs-findings-from-the-2020-kff-womens-health-survey/.
Salganicoff, Alina, Usha Ranji, Adara Beamesderfer, and Nisha Kurani. 2014. “Women and Health Care in the Early Years of the Affordable Care Act: Key Findings from the 2013 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey.” Issue Brief. KFF. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/report/women-and-health-care-in-the-early-years-of-the-aca-key-findings-from-the-2013-kaiser-womens-health-survey/.
Spatz, Erica S., Joseph S. Ross, Mayur M. Desai, Maureen E. Canavan, and Harlan M. Krumholz. 2010. “Beyond Insurance Coverage: Usual Source of Care in the Treatment of Hypertension and Hypercholesterolemia. Data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.” American Heart Journal 160 (1): 115–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2010.04.013.
Winters, Paul, Daniel Tancredi, and Kevin Fiscella. 2010. “The Role of Usual Source of Care in Cholesterol Treatment.” The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 23 (2): 179–85. https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2010.02.090084.
America’s Health Rankings builds on the work of the United Health Foundation to draw attention to public health and better understand the health of various populations. Our platform provides relevant information that policymakers, public health officials, advocates and leaders can use to effect change in their communities.
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