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The Influence of Visiting Consultant Clinics on Measures of Access to Cancer Care: Evidence from the State of Iowa
Author(s) -
Tracy Roger,
Nam Inwoo,
Gruca Thomas S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12050
Subject(s) - medicine , census , family medicine , primary care , medical care , population , environmental health
Objective To determine the effect of visiting consultant clinics on measures of access to cancer care for rural patients. Data Sources 2010 V isiting M edical C onsultant D atabase for the state of I owa ( C arver C ollege of M edicine) and the I owa P hysicians I nformation S ystem ( C arver C ollege of M edicine). Study Design We compared shortest driving times to the nearest medical oncologist for all Iowa census tracts under two scenarios: including only primary practice locations and adding monthly visiting consultant clinic locations. Principal Findings For rural I owans, the median driving time to the closest site for medical oncology care falls from 51.6 to 19.2 minutes when monthly visiting consultant clinics are considered. Conclusions Including visiting consultant clinics has a significant impact on measures of geographic access to cancer care.