Here are nine things to know about the report:
1. The studies were published in Annals of Surgery and JAMA. The Annals study looked at data on surgical care across the U.S. from 2011 through 2020, and evaluated data supplied by Medicare, Medicaid and the American Hospital Association.
2. The Annals study found that by 2020, 99 million Americans struggled to find “timely, high-quality and affordable surgical care,” according to the studies conducted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
3. Seven percent of rural patients were deemed to have “insufficient access to [surgical] care,” compared with 2% of those living in cities.
4. The JAMA study looked at rural Americans who underwent one of 16 types of surgery between 2010 and 2020, including both high- and low-risk operations.
5. By 2020, 44% of these rural Americans had to drive an hour or more to get surgeries, a 7% increase since 2010.
6. On average, rural patients drove 55 minutes to reach a surgical center.
7. This, combined with other obstacles to healthcare access, such as a lack of insurance coverage, have “real-world complications” for patients’ health, Cody Mullens, MD, lead author of both studies, said in the report.
8. He added that this is in part due to increased consolidation throughout healthcare, and that many surgeries can be safely completed at surgery centers in rural areas.
9. Dr. Mullens offered considerations for physicians working with rural patients, such as substituting telehealth sessions for appointments leading up to the actual surgery. “When we can look at these factors in concert, we can have a better understanding of the net effect of our complex policy environment on patients, who may delay getting surgery and see their condition worsen and become more complex,” he said.
