A. Access to Primary Care

COMMUNITY ASSETS

To fully understand the strengths or positive attributes of Orange County, the following section analyzes Orange County’s community resources which can be utilized to improve the quality of community life. Also, see Appendix E for a list of community assets identified by community members.

ACCESS TO PRIMARY CARE

A lack of access to primary care presents barriers to preventative care and good health. The supply and accessibility of primary care physicians, the type and lack of insurance coverage, poverty level, transportation obstacles, and cultural and language competency affect access. Individuals in communities affected by barriers to primary care have shown increased rates of morbidity, mortality, and emergency department hospitalizations. These can all be reduced if residents have access to primary care services, including health screenings, routine tests, and vaccinations.

If an average pediatrician performs 5,000 primary care encounters per year, we can estimate the number of fulltime-equivalent (FTE) physicians practicing in the market.

In 2018, primary care physicians with an office location based inside of Orange County rendered over 2.2 million patient visits. At the same time, Orange County residents aged 0-18 consumed approximately 1.8 million patient visits in Orange County. This means that Orange County is net-provider of pediatric primary care visits to the point that over 360,000 pediatric visits were rendered to patients living outside of Orange County by physicians practicing inside Orange County. Assuming the average pediatrician performs 5,000 primary care encounters per year, we can estimate the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians practicing in the market. Using this methodology, Orange County is a net supplier of pediatric primary care services with the equivalent of 442 providers operating in the county and local patient demand for only 369 providers. In other words, there is an excess of 73 primary care providers in Orange County that are serving patients originating from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside - counties that have known primary care physician shortages.

Orange County Primary Care Visits, 0-18: CY 2018

Metric Encounters Estimated FTE @ 5,000 Enc/FTE

Visits Rendered by Primary Care Physicians in OC 2,210,990 Visits Consumed by OC Residents

Difference

1,843,550

367,440

442 369

73

Source: BluePrint Claims Data, CY 2018