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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of people with a usual primary care provider — AHS‑07 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About this objective  |  Methodology  |  History

About this objective

Data

Data Source:  National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), CDC/NCHS

National baseline: 89.9 percent of persons had a usual source of care 2019

National target: 95.1 percent

Numerator
Number of persons who report having a usual source of health care.
Denominator
Number of persons.
National target-setting method
Percentage point improvement
National target-setting method details
Percentage point improvement from the baseline using Cohen's h effect size of 0.20.
1
National target-setting method justification
Trend data were evaluated for this objective, but it was not possible to project a target because the targets were not statistically significant or were moving away from the desired direction. A percentage point improvement was calculated using Cohen's h effect size of 0.2. This method was used because over the past 20 years, the percentage of persons with a usual source of care only fluctuated a few percentage points but has not displayed a significant upward or downward direction. Given those trends, the Healthy People 2030 Workgroup Subject Matter Experts viewed this as an ambitious yet achievable target.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)
Numerator:
Is there a place that [PERSON] usually go if [PERSON] are sick and need health care?"
  1. Yes
  2. There is NO place
  3. There is MORE THAN ONE place
  4. Refused
  5. Not Ascertained
  6. Don't know
What kind of place?
  1. A doctor's office or health center
  2. Urgent care center or clinic in a drug store or grocery store
  3. Hospital emergency room
  4. A VA Medical Center or VA outpatient clinic
  5. Some other place
  6. Does not go to one place most often
  7. Refused
  8. Not Ascertained
  9. Don't know

Methodology notes

Respondents who indicated their place of usual care was a hospital emergency room were not classified as having a usual place of care.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.
Revision History
Revised. 

In 2025, the scope of the objective was changed from usual primary care provider to usual source of care and the data source was changed from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to the National Health Interview Survey. The baseline was revised from 76.0% in 2017 to 89.9% in 2019. The target was revised from 84.0% to 95.1% using the original target setting method.

1. Effect size h=0.2 was chosen to correspond with 20% improvement from a baseline of 50%.