The Influence of Visiting Consultant Clinics on Measures of Access to Cancer Care: Evidence from the State of Iowa

Objective

To determine the effect of visiting consultant clinics on measures of access to cancer care for rural patients.

Data Sources

2010 isiting edical onsultant atabase for the state of owa (arver ollege of edicine) and the owa hysicians nformation ystem (arver ollege of 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 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.