Patients outside metropolitan areas often travel significantly more than 20 minutes for primary care visit

Patients outside metropolitan areas often travel significantly more than 20 minutes for primary care visit

New data on patient travel patterns could lead to more accurate geographic market definitions

Abstract:  https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-24-00857 

URL goes live when the embargo lifts       

A cross-sectional study of U.S. healthcare utilization survey data provided a nationally representative measure of patient travel patterns across provider types. The data can inform more accurate choices of geographic market definitions to monitor provider competition, access to care, outcomes and costs. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine. 

Researchers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the University of Maryland School of Public Health studied data from 2018 to 2021 from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to better understand patient travel patterns and assess to what degree commonly used geographic definitions of health care markets capture travel patterns. The researchers used geocoding software to calculate travel time between patient homes and healthcare provider addresses, including office visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and inpatient stays. They found that the median travel time for physician office visits was about 14 minutes inside and 28 minutes outside metropolitan statistical aeras.  The median travel time for physician office visits to specialists was nearly 42 minutes outside of metropolitan statistical areas.   The median travel time for ED visits was 13.6 minutes and for inpatients stays was 18.1 minutes. Only half of primary care visits fell within a primary care service area (PCSA), while nearly 40% of inpatient stays fell outside of defined hospital service areas.  Based on the data collected, the researchers found that some geographic market definitions exclude much of the care utilized by residents. This data can inform choices of market definitions and provide national benchmarks for patient travel time. 

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at [email protected]. To speak with corresponding author Sandra L. Decker, PhD, please email Caryn McManus at [email protected].