Patient travel patterns for accessing specialty care often differ from traditional geographic boundaries like hospital service areas (HSA) or zip codes. A study analyzed data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2018 to 2021 to assess the accuracy of these boundaries in capturing patient populations. It found that primary care service areas and HSAs were not accurate definitions. For emergency department visits, most occurred within the patient’s county and within 30-60 minutes of their home. Inpatient stays showed similar trends. The study suggests that using larger geographic units like 60-minute travel times may provide a more accurate representation of access to care.
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Reassessing Definitions of Patient Populations
