Jafri Syed Hussain, Gandhi Subi, Osei Edward
College of Business Administration, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX 76402, USA.
Department of Medical Lab Sciences, Public Health, and Nutrition Sciences, School of Health and Clinical Professions, College of Health Sciences, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX 76402, USA.
Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Nov 29;12(23):2397. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12232397.
Rural health disparities in Texas impact population health due to limited healthcare access, insurance, and transportation challenges, especially in medically underserved areas. A shortage of specialists in rural regions worsens these issues, leading to increased morbidity and mortality rates. Our research aimed to address a knowledge gap by investigating the availability of three medical specialists-cardiologists, pulmonologists, and endocrinologists-in rural counties of Texas and identifying areas where access to healthcare is limited. Utilizing data from regional, state, and federal sources, the analysis geocoded specialist locations and created GIS maps to visualize the distribution of specialists across Texas's 254 counties. Physician demand was calculated by considering disease incidence and population size, resulting in a county-level physician availability index to highlight areas with shortages. Our findings demonstrate a significant deficiency of cardiologists in 196 counties when considering a maximum reasonable travel distance of 50 miles. Comparable deficiencies were observed for pulmonologists and endocrinologists, with western rural counties predominantly comprising the deficiency areas for each specialty. These results emphasize a significant rural-urban disparity concerning access to the three investigated health specialists. Addressing geographic disparities can reduce health inequities, improve rural healthcare access, and promote a more equitable healthcare system across Texas. Solutions may include incentives for specialists to work in underserved areas, expanded telemedicine services, and transportation assistance.
德克萨斯州的农村医疗差距对人口健康产生了影响，这是由于医疗服务可及性有限、保险问题以及交通挑战所致，在医疗服务欠缺地区尤为如此。农村地区专科医生短缺使这些问题更加严重，导致发病率和死亡率上升。我们的研究旨在通过调查德克萨斯州农村县的三类医学专科医生——心脏病专家、肺病专家和内分泌专家的可及情况，并确定医疗服务可及性有限的地区，来填补知识空白。利用来自地区、州和联邦来源的数据，分析对专科医生的地点进行了地理编码，并创建了地理信息系统地图，以直观显示专科医生在德克萨斯州254个县的分布情况。通过考虑疾病发病率和人口规模来计算医生需求，从而得出县级医生可及性指数，以突出短缺地区。我们的研究结果表明，在考虑最大合理出行距离为50英里的情况下，196个县的心脏病专家严重短缺。肺病专家和内分泌专家也存在类似的短缺情况，每个专科的短缺地区主要集中在西部农村县。这些结果强调了在获取这三类被调查健康专科医生方面存在显著的城乡差距。解决地理差距问题可以减少健康不平等，改善农村地区的医疗服务可及性，并促进德克萨斯州建立更公平的医疗体系。解决方案可能包括激励专科医生到服务欠缺地区工作、扩大远程医疗服务以及提供交通援助。
