Access to health care has become a hot topic of the 1990s for many national health professional organizations. Despite incredible advances in the technology of medical care, we remain challenged, if not overwhelmed, by socioeconomic obstacles to care for many of those in need. Adolescent medicine is based on the art of establishing and maintaining a provider-patient/family relationship that enables the science of health care to occur. Access to the provider is the critical first step. For many adolescents, this step seems insurmountable.
"Access to the provider is the critical first step. For many adolescents, this step seems insurmountable."
The authors of this monograph have compiled data from several national surveys as well as more limited samples to document utilization of health care by American adolescents and to examine many factors, especially economic, that may limit adolescents' access to care. They provide a wealth of information and analysis for policy