California COVID-19 Health Surveys: Data and Charts

Background

To help Californians and state policymakers understand evolving demands on the state’s health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic, CHCF and global survey firm Ipsos are assessing residents’ desire for COVID-19 testing and general health care services by conducting a weekly series of statewide surveys. CHCF is working with physician survey firm Truth on Call to learn about the experiences of physicians and nurses in California during this pandemic.

These weekly surveys began the third week in March 2020, shortly after the statewide shelter-in-place orders were instituted in California, and continued through early September.

CHCF is making the data files and charts available for you to use in your own publications.

Statewide Survey of California Residents

CHCF and global survey firm Ipsos are assessing California residents’ desire for COVID-19 testing, their access to health care services, as well as their mental health status and health care cost concerns. Breakout responses are included for Californians with low incomes (at or below 138% of the federal poverty level), as well as certain racial and ethnic groups.

In light of state and federal regulations being modified to make it easier for health care providers to be reimbursed for video or phone appointments, CHCF/Ipsos is also tracking people who saw a provider by video or phone.

Methodology

These surveys are conducted online in Ipsos’s Omnibus using the web-enabled “KnowledgePanel,” a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the California general population, not just the online population. Approximately 1,170 representative interviews are conducted in each sample, with the exact number varying week to week. The survey sample includes California residents who are at least 18 years old. The margin of error is +/-3.1 percentage points.

Note: Ipsos uses the demographic terms African American and Hispanic, whereas CHCF uses Black and Latino when publishing results.

Get analyses of all the survey results, including responses by Californians with low incomes, in our COVID-19 California Tracking Polls collection.

California Physician Survey

CHCF and Truth on Call, a physician market-research firm, are surveying two groups of California physicians about the effects of COVID-19 on their work environments. First, a group of hospital-based critical care, emergency department, and infectious disease physicians are being surveyed about staffing and the availability of testing, personal protective equipment (PPE), intensive care unit beds, and ventilators. CHCF and Truth on Call are also surveying primary care providers about the availability of PPE and testing, as well as the current financial status of their practices.

For both of these groups, CHCF is breaking responses out by safety-net providers, defined as providers whose patient population consists of 30% of more Medi-Cal or uninsured.

Methodology

These physician surveys are conducted online using the proprietary physician database of Truth On Call. Responses are solicited over email, and methods are employed to ensure a representative sample of physicians treating at least 30% of patients who are on Medi-Cal or are uninsured. The critical care survey includes approximately 150 California physicians practicing emergency medicine, critical care, or infectious disease in a hospital setting. The primary care survey includes approximately 450 internal medicine and family practice physicians from small, medium, and large practice groups. Truth On Call is a division of Slingshot Insights.

See all the results and charts, including responses by physicians working in the safety net, in our COVID-19 California Tracking Polls collection.