Travel Time as an Indicator of Poor Access to Care in Surgical Emergencies

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2829418?utm_term=012125&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_medium=referral&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9nPceZZiojviPGjCuPu9HZnqnAz4d4axZXVWoE789w5TfbGK3qmJkM-he9l8jLBm00Jg-dSoYsjSvVnSUUgvgNJ88aew&_hsmi=343569311&utm_source=For_The_Media In emergencies, distance makes disease grow stronger People who live farther from emergency care facilities are more likely to have more complex medical problems when they finally get there, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. The study analyzed data from more than 190,000 adults in Florida and California who went to the emergency room for five common general surgical concerns including appendicitis, hernias, and bowel obstruction. People in the study who lived more than an hour away from a clinic were more likely to require an operation, get admitted to the hospital, have a longer stay, or require a transfer to another facility as compared to those who lived closer. They also racked up bigger bills. The study suggests that timeliness could be considered one of the “essential components of health care access,” the authors write. It’s an urgent problem as rural hospitals continue to close all over the country. The authors added that in these areas, future research might be better off using travel time to measure access than ZIP codes.