Use of physician services varies according to several characteristics including:

- Demographics - age, gender, socioeconomic status (people who are older, female, or poor have more physician visits than others)

- Physician supply - availability and accessibility(do residents tend to visit physicians located in a different region? If so, why?); type of physicians (generalist or specialist)

- Health status (people in poor health need more physician visits)

Questions For Planners:

1. Does the physician visit rate make sense given the healthiness of the region’s residents or does it reflect “under- or over- servicing”?

2. Are there sub-regions within the region with high need populations and do they have good access to physician services?

3. Should any patterns of usage of “within RHA” or “outside RHA” GP/FPs and specialists be altered?