1) What is access to care? Access to care can be defined as the ability to obtain affordable, convenient, acceptable, effective and most needed healthcare at the right time. According to Healthy People 2020, access to care is the appropriate use of health services for a person to achieve the best possible health. This includes entering a healthcare system, accessing appropriate places with needed services, and contacting a healthcare provider you can trust (“Access,” 2013). Access to care consists of five parameters such as availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability and acceptability. This means that acceptable and affordable healthcare services should be available to the required people at the time of need. Access to care is different for different types of patients (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 508-509). For example, access to healthcare is different for a person with a disability and for a person who works. A disabled customer may have to worry about transportation and a working person thinks about making an appointment on his day off.2). How does service availability affect access to care? Availability is a broad term that refers to the ability of health services to meet customer needs. Customers have different needs regarding the availability of healthcare services. The wide range of availability issues include the availability of primary and preventive services, the availability of assistance such as transportation, interpretation, and social services, the availability of health care specialists, and/or the availability of appointments when needed. Availability of care may also be based on income, insurance and geographic differences. For example, rural Americans have conducted...... middle of paper...... numerous population surveys to assess equity of access to health services (Shi & Singh, 2008, p. 510- 512). References Access to Health Services. (2013). Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=1Chapter 9. Access to Health Care:National Healthcare Quality Report, 2011. (2011). Retrieved November 25, 2013, from http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqr11/chap9.htmlKey facts about the uninsured population. (2013). Retrieved October 28, 2013, from http://kff.org/uninsuring/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsuring-population/Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2008). Providing health care in America: A systems approach (4th ed.). [Adobe Digital Editions]. Retrieved from http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/jonesandbartlett/2008/delivering-health-care-in-america_-a-systems-approach_ebook_4e.php