A qualitative and quantitative approach to the study of foreign patients’ utilization and assessment of health care in the United States.

What are the barriers preventing migrants from accessing and successfully using health care in their new home country? Do these barriers vary based on the migrants’ country of origin? And are they a problem for highly skilled migrants, who often have well-paid jobs and health insurance provided by their employers? Based on field research conducted in the Washington DC area, Navigating the Cultures of Health Care and Health Insurance brings together mixed methods, qualitative, and quantitative approaches to the study of foreign patients’ utilization and assessment of health care in the United States. Through interviews with both health care providers and patients, attitudes toward health insurance and medical treatment are compared for migrants from three countries with very different cultural backgrounds and health insurance systems: Germany, India, and Japan.