If We Build It, Who Will Come? Working-Age Adults With Chronic Health Care Needs and the Medical Home

Background: Currently, there is a call to implement and test the patient-centered medical home in adult populations, particularly among those with chronic conditions. However, the size, composition, and service use of the population who might require this coordinated care model need to be assessed, as does the way they are defined and identified. Objectives: Using nationally representative data from the 2002 to 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we provide a preliminary profile of the population of working-age adults with chronic health care needs (ACHCN), including those with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Results: ACHCN comprised the majority (52%) of the working-aged population. Relative to persons without chronic health care needs, they had significantly more service use, access problems, and 4 times more health care expenditures. Of the 2 disability groups within the larger population of ACHCN, those reporting need for help or supervision with activities of daily livings (ADLs) or instrumental ADLs (IADLs) had the highest rates/percentages of the following: mean chronic (3.5) and acute (4.4) conditions during the year, service use (all services), and access problems. The ADL/IADL-limited group reported annual medical expenditures totaling 100 billion dollars, more than what was spent on the entire working-age population without chronic health care needs. Conclusions: These data reveal the drawbacks of selecting the potential population targeted for a medical home on the basis of diagnosis alone. New measurement approaches on the basis of shared need for ongoing health and related services are required to bridge the division between disability and chronic health conditions.