Commentary: The basis of a more rational method of funding primary medical care?

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Abstract
Many previous studies investigating the association between socioeconomic factors and consultation rates in general practice have suffered from three limitations. Firstly, many studies used socioeconomic data for areas rather than for individuals and the associations found in these studies may not hold at the individual level (the ecological fallacy). Secondly, most previous studies have not taken into account the extent to which the provision of health services can generate demand for these services (supplier induced demand). Thirdly, deprivation indices rather than separate socioeconomic variables have usually been used in the analyses. In an innovative study investigating the association between socioeconomic factors and consultation rates in general practice, Roy Carr-Hill and colleagues used data from the fourth national survey of morbidity in general …