Identifying high-users of medical care in a farming-dependent county

In the future, demand management will be required of health care organizati ons that become at-risk for the cost of care, Methods for identifying marke t segments composed of high users need to be adopted and routinely employed . The study reported here is an example of such an effort. Physician visits in a farming-dependent county in the upper-middle west were assessed via p ostal questionnaire in this study. A 15-percent random sample of households yielded 327 surveys. The frail elderly, low-income elderly, low-income adu lts, and recently hospitalized middle-aged and elderly persons were identif ied as market segments disproportionately composed of high users. Demand ma nagement programs might fruitfully be targeted at these groups, Judicious c linic expansions might reduce medical office visits.