Access to Care for Elderly Persons.
Access to appropriate care for elderly persons for cardiovascular diseases is still a major problem for some segments of the population and some geographic regions. The problem of access can be defined in terms of three principle components: 1) lack of personal resources (insurance); 2) inadequate facilities (hospitals, clinics and medical personnel; and 3) inappropriate withholding of care (principally due to ethnic or culturally-based biases). Solutions to these defined problem components can be planned along the same lines and will require pooling of federal, state, and local government resources; education of the lay public; improved professional education; and raising the level of tolerance for substandard practices based upon peer review and the promulgation of standards of practice via guidelines.
Haywood
L. Julian
LJ
Department of Medicine and the Division of Cardiology, Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.