More People Going to the Doctor, Statistics Reveal

A decade-long trend of declining doctor’s office visits may be on the upswing. Starting in 2012, more patients aged 18-64 are seeing their doctors more often.

In 2001, people of working age visited their medical provider an average of 4.8 times a year, according to census numbers. In 2010, this number declined to 3.9 times per year for the same age group. Analysts theorize that the decline was due to unemployment or the inability to obtain health insurance. Truven Health Analytics says that after a decade of decline, 2012 has had gains in every quarter.

For diabetics, this translates into better management and identification of the disease. The CDC recommends diabetic testing if you are 45 or older, or if you have certain risk factors, such as being overweight or having a family history of diabetes. The American Heart Association says that frequent doctor’s visits help diabetics keep blood pressure in check as well.

Care is More Affordable

The trend is credited to the increase in coverage of preventative care due to the Affordable Care Act. According to the legislation, the most common preventative care is required to be covered at 100 percent with no co-pays or co-insurance.

Ray Fabius, MD is the chief medical officer at Truven. He says that the medical legislation has "removed the financial barriers that keep patients from receiving preventive services that have been proven to have value." Dr. Fabius is optimistic that the trend will continue, and not just in the public sector either.

"We’re also seeing some employers encouraging people to have relationships with doctors, especially primary care doctors, as they realize that their employees having a relationship with a doctor helps costs go down. This is a dynamic situation. There has been remarkable thinking in terms of health reform since 2010. We may see some of the early result of this thinking in the numbers."

Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524161242.htm http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/prevent.htm
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/10/15/bisa1015.htm