International Journal of Business and Economics Research 2014; 3(6): 259-265 Published online January 08, 2015 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijber) doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20140306.17 ISSN: 2328-7543 (Print); ISSN: 2328-756X (Online) Determinants of health care demand in Ghana using the ordered probit model analysis Bismark Osei 1 , Mark Edem Kunawotor 1, * , Enock Anane 2 1 Department of Finance and Accounting, Zenith University College, Accra, Ghana 2 Department of Economics, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana Email address: markedemk@yahoo.com (M. E. Kunawotor) To cite this article: Bismark Osei, Mark Edem Kunawotor, Enock Anane. Determinants of Health Care Demand in Ghana Using the Ordered Probit Model Analysis. International Journal of Business and Economics Research. Vol. 3, No. 6, 2014, pp. 259-265. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20140306.17 Abstract: The study examines the factors that determine health care demand of the people of Kwabre East District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Health behaviour model formulated by Anderson and Newman was adopted for the analysis with the help of Ordered Probit. The result of the study revealed that, the level of income, transportation cost, hospital cost and NHIS have positive signs, implying that as these factors increases, the utilization of health care facilities also increases. It was found out from the marginal effects results that, NHIS and transport cost have negative signs on the patient’s first visit to hospital whiles the level of income and hospital cost were insignificant. Keywords: National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Health care demand, Ordered Probit Model, Kwabre East District 1. Introduction Ranking as one of the most developed in the sub-region of Africa (Canagarajah and Ye, 2001), Ghana’s health sector boasts three teaching hospitals and a sizeable number of regional/district hospitals, clinics, and community health centres and posts. For a population of a little short of 25 million people, there are only 1,439 health care facilities (IRIN, 2008). A study by Van den Boom et al.,(2004) noted that access to these facilities remained a problem: Medical facilities were not evenly distributed across the country, with most rural areas lacking basic facilities such as hospitals and clinics as well as doctors and nurses. Government programmes and expenditures geared towards the improvement of delivery and access to health care system have been enormous. Policies and programmes initiated also include the construction of new hospitals and polyclinics in remote and underserved districts. This is expected to improve and strengthened physical access to healthcare, particularly, to enhance access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care. The National Health Insurance Scheme introduced by the government in 2005 has improved financial access to healthcare for about half of the population according to the Ministry of Health. Despite improvements in public health indicators, the population of Ghana still suffers because of poor health status among high percentage of the entire population, especially in rural areas and success has been mixed when compared to health targets of the Medium Term Health Strategy. This however can be attributed to the deficiencies that affect the demand for health care (Asenso-Okyere et al, 2006). Therefore the general objective of this study is to examine the core determinants of health care demand in Ghana specifically, Kwabre East District. 2. Theoretical and Empirical Literature Among the models relating to utilization of health services that are of interest to this study is the Newman and Andersen’s model (1973). Very frequently, investigators adapt the model to the peculiarities of their research field or study area, with the main aim to increase the repertoire of possible key factors affecting health care utilization rather than to achieve theoretical advancements. Following Arcury et al., (2005), the model used in this analysis integrates concepts from the Health Behaviour Model (HBM) formulated by Newman and Andersen (1973). This model, which has been effectively applied by Health Economists, was initially developed in the late 1960s to help understand why families use health services, to define and measure equitable access to health care, and to help develop