Table 1.
Population characteristics of Health Service Areas according to managed care penetration
| Health Service Area | Managed care penetration | P Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Intermediate | High | ||
| No. Health Service Areas | 49 | 69 | 45 | -- |
| No. patients treated with radiation, % | 5,025 | 25,048 | 25,089 | -- |
| Patient Characteristics | ||||
| Mean patient age, years | 73.4 | 73.4 | 73.8 | 0.05 |
| Well/moderately differentiated tumor grade, % | 55 | 55 | 55 | 0.97 |
| Tumor stage T1, % | 40 | 45 | 42 | 0.15 |
| Charlson Score 2 or higher, % | 11 | 13 | 10 | 0.05 |
| Market Characteristics | ||||
| Non-white population, % | 15 | 16 | 25 | <0.01 |
| Population density, (people per square mile) | 145 | 710 | 2,110 | <0.01 |
| At least college education, % | 15 | 18 | 27 | <0.01 |
| Median income, $ | 31,900 | 38,200 | 48,500 | <0.01 |
| English secondary language, % | 1 | 2 | 4 | <0.01 |
| No. hospital beds per 1,000,000 residents | 3820 | 3390 | 2810 | 0.03 |
| No. radiation oncologists per 1,000,000 residents | 4 | 8 | 12 | <0.01 |
| No. Health Service Areas by SEER region | <0.01 | |||
| Northeast | 1 | 9 | 3 | |
| South | 21 | 27 | 7 | |
| Midwest | 17 | 15 | 3 | |
| West | 10 | 18 | 32 | |