| Abstrakt: |
This paper examines the role of prescription drug coverage on a group of indigent patients with severe hypertension in an urban setting with established access to primary care. A unique data set was created using emergency department, pharmacy, and primary care records to assess the impact of prescription coverage. Binary logistic regressions with emergency department use as the dependent variable were conducted. Model specifications using all visits and first visit only data were conducted. Both models show that African-Americans were significantly more likely to use the emergency department (p < .01). Prescription drug coverage at the time of the visits was highly significant in reducing the probability of emergency department use (p < .01); the percentage of scheduled primary care visits attended was also highly significant (p < .01). Prior alcohol use, illicit drug use, gender, Hispanic, age, and previously controlled blood pressure were all insignificant in predicting the probability of emergency department use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
