Regional Variations in Health Care Intensity and Physician Perceptions of Quality of Care

View larger version (20K): [in a new window]   Figure 1. Proportion of physicians practicing in regions with differing levels of local health care intensity who report being able to obtain the following services when medically necessary. Crude and adjusted results are presented. The number of respondents, shown in parentheses, differs for each question because some questions did not apply to some specialties and because of some item nonresponse (<1% for each question). *Adjusted for all variables included in the final model (patient, physician, and practice characteristics; market-level managed care; local hospital bed and physician supply).

View larger version (23K): [in a new window]   Figure 2. Proportion of physicians practicing in regions with differing levels of local health care intensity who agree with the following statements about their practice experience. Crude and adjusted results are presented. The number of respondents, shown in parentheses, differs for each question because some questions did not apply to some specialties and because of some item nonresponse (<1% for each question). *Adjusted for all variables included in the final model (patient, physician, and practice characteristics; market-level managed care; local hospital bed and physician supply). Primary care physicians were asked about their communication with specialists and vice versa. Response categories differed from those for the other 5 questions. These results reflect physicians who responded that they were "somewhat satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their overall career.

View this table: [in a new window]   Appendix Table 1. Factors Associated with Physicians' Perceived Ability To Obtain Hospital Admissions

View this table: [in a new window]   Appendix Table 2. Factors Associated with Physicians' Perceived Ability To Obtain Referrals to High-Quality Specialists

View this table: [in a new window]   Appendix Table 3. Factors Associated with Physicians' Perceptions of Their Ability To Provide High-Quality Care

View this table: [in a new window]   Appendix Table 4. Factors Associated with Physicians' Career Satisfaction