New Study Exposes Lack of Cardiologists in U.S. Counties, Posing Threat to Rural Communities
On July 8, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology published new research finding that nearly half of all counties in the U.S. do not have a practicing cardiologist.
According to an article from NBC News, most of the counties are rural and have residents with complex medical problems.
The article says, “Warraich’s [the lead author on the paper] study, conducted in partnership with the web-based pharmacy GoodRx, found that of the 3,143 counties in the U.S., 46.3% don't have a cardiologist. Most of those, 86.2%, are rural counties with lower income levels, less access to healthy food and fewer health care providers overall.”
Further, “Counties with cardiologists have an average of 24 of the specialists, the new report found.”
Yet only 10% have one cardiologist for the county.
The research also found that people in counties with a cardiologist drive an average of 16 miles round trip for an appointment. This is compared to an average of 87-miles round trip, for individuals without a cardiologist in their county.
Janette Wider | Editor-in-Chief
Janette Wider is Editor-in-Chief for Healthcare Purchasing News.
