Is Regular Visiting Associated with Lower Costs? Analyzing Service Utilization Patterns in the First Nations Population in Canada

OBJECTIVES: Using an administrative database of dental service records from the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program of Health Canada for 1994-2001, the authors set out to test whether regular visitors had lower program expenditures. METHODS: The age-specific mean expenditures per client were compared among those with regular examinations in 8, 7 and fewer years. The study further examined the effect of regular visiting over the first 6 …