Did General Practice Health Assessments of Older Australians Improve Equity?

• Published in: Australian health review Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 488 - 493
• Main Authors: Gill, Gerard F, Geraghty, Dominic P, FitzGerald, Des G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association 01.08.2008; CSIRO
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Australia; Beneficiaries; Care; Classification; Cohort Studies; Eligibility Determination; Equity; Evaluation; Family medicine; Family physicians; Family Practice - economics; Female; Government finance; Health care policy; Health insurance; Health risk assessment; Health services accessibility; Health Services for the Aged - economics; Health Services for the Aged - supply & distribution; Health Services Research; Health Status Disparities; Healthcare Disparities; Humans; Insurance Claim Review; Male; Mass Screening - economics; Mass Screening - utilization; Medical care; Medical screening; Medicare; Methods; National Health Programs - ethics; Older people; Private Practice - economics; Public health; Regression analysis; Reimbursement; Research ethics; Social Justice; Socioeconomic factors; Studies; Womens health; Australia
• ISSN: 0156-5788; 1449-8944
• DOI: 10.1071/AH080488

Three previous studies that looked at equity of general practice health assessments of older persons in Australia using Health Insurance Commission claim data suggested that the distribution was equitable. These studies utilised unrepresentative samples and two were of short duration. This study examines the uptakes for the whole Australian population over the first 35 months following the universal funding of health assessments. General practice appears to have targeted health assessments to those older persons at highest risk of adverse health outcomes.