Study Design & Method: The study used Florida Medicaid eligibility and claims data as well as Medicaid provider data from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004. Subjects include adult enrollees age between 21 and younger than 65 during the study period. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was used to map geographical distributions of providers and Medicaid beneficiaries. Partial correlation is also used to examine the relationship between the geographical distribution of primary care providers and access care by individuals with diverse backgrounds.

Results and Implication:  No significant relationships were found between the geographic location of primary care providers (either physicians or nurse practitioners) and White adult Medicaid beneficiaries. However, geographic location of Black Medicaid adults were significantly negatively related to the geographical location of primary care physician but positively correlated to nurse practitioners’ located. Strategies to increase provider availability in the geographical location of minority may reduce disparity in accessing primary care services.