VI. Utilization of Services

Another important dimension in assessing a community health system is the degree to which local services are utilized. This section discusses the utilization of various health care services in Lompoc as well as the in-migration and out-migration of persons who receive hospital services.

A. Home Health Services

There is only one provider of home health services available in Lompoc, Visiting Nurse Service of Northern Santa Barbara County (VNSNSBC), whose volume has been on the rise since 1993. As illustrated in Table 6.1, the number of home health visits has actually doubled in three years from 9,879 in 1993 to 18,484 in 1995. The number of patients has also increased by 50%, from 410 in 1993 to 618 in 1995. This rise in use of home care services by Lompoc residents correlates with decreasing lengths of stay for hospital inpatients, an increase in acuity of the senior population and the lack of family support systems to adequately care for elderly patients in the home. This is a pattern of growth in home health services which is being replicated throughout the nation.

The majority of the home health patients seen by VNSNSBC are over 65 years of age, which accounts for the high percentage of Medicare, 85.4% of the total payer population as shown in Table 6.2. Other home health payers include Medi-Cal with 5.6% and commercial payers with 9.1% of total visits. There are relatively minor differences in payer mix between Lompoc and California.

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