Access to general practitioner services amongst underserved Australians: a microsimulation study

Using the 2005 National Health Survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a microsimulation model was developed to determine the distribution of GP services that would occur if all Australians had equal utilisation of health services relative to need.It was estimated that those who are unemployed would experience a 19% increase in GP services. Persons residing in regional areas would receive about 5.7 million additional GP visits per year if they had the same access to care as Australians residing in major cities. This would be a 18% increase. There would be a 20% increase for inner regional residents and a 14% increase for residents of more remote regional areas. Overall there would be a 5% increase in GP visits nationally if those in regional areas had the same access to care as those in major cities.Parity is an insufficient goal and disadvantaged persons and underserved areas require greater access to health services than the well served metropolitan areas due to their greater poverty and poorer health status. Currently underserved Australians suffer a double disadvantage: poorer health and poorer access to health services.The burden of disease is not equally distributed amongst Australians. Those with low socioeconomic status generally have a lower life expectancy, and are more likely to suffer from chronic disease and have health risk factors [1-3]. Those with the lowest socioeconomic status are reported to have around one-third greater burden of disease than those with the highest socioeconomic status [4].The socioeconomic differences in mortality within Australia have been documented, with it being concluded that if death rates in the lowest socioeconomic areas could be reduced to that of the least disadvantaged areas, all-cause mortality could be reduced by up to 70% [5]. Successive reports conducted by the Australia Institute of Health and Welfare show that people from low socioeconomic backgrounds have more risk factors for chronic disease