Source:
KNBC-TV Los AngelesAs Washington debates children's health insurance, a startling study finds that kids who regularly see doctors get the right care less than half the time - whether it's preschool shots or chlamydia tests for teen girls.
The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's health care quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536 children in the nationwide study had insurance.
Eight-two percent were covered by private insurance. Three-quarters were white, and all lived in or near large or midsized cities.
The study, by the Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and the nonprofit Rand Corp. research group, concludes that overall, doctors gave children the appropriate outpatient medical care only 47 percent of the time.
"They got an 'F'," said Dr. Joseph F. Hagan, a Burlington, Vt., pediatrician. Hagan co-edited the American Academy of Pediatrics' latest update to its children's health guidelines, due out later this month.
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http://www.knbc.com/health/14314701/detail.html