Jennifer M Ludrosky, Amanda Newhouse, Erin Hudnall, Ashley Sheree, Jonathan G Perle
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引用次数: 1
Abstract
Telehealth has been hypothesized as a solution for rural barriers precluding access to healthcare, of which distance remains one of the most significant. Providers, institutions, and policymakers may use distance as a metric to determine whether to keep, or to end, telehealth services. Although commonly used, straight line distance (SLD) may not reflect the true burden of distance (TD) for rural patients. A retrospective record review was conducted to determine the difference between SLD and TD for patients seeking behavioral health care at a large outpatient center. The discrepancy between SLD and TD ranged from 0.5 to 83.4 miles of additional actual travel distance (mean = - 17.6). The mean percentage that SLD underestimated TD was 31.9%. Findings highlight that when considering distance as a determining factor for telehealth services, SLD is an inaccurate representation of the travel burden on this sample of rural patients, suggesting the utility of TD as an alternative.
期刊介绍:
This journal examines the organization, financing, delivery and outcomes of behavioral health services (i.e., alcohol, drug abuse, and mental disorders), providing practical and empirical contributions to and explaining the implications for the broader behavioral health field. Each issue includes an overview of contemporary concerns and recent developments in behavioral health policy and management through research articles, policy perspectives, commentaries, brief reports, and book reviews.
This journal is the official publication of the National Council for Behavioral Health.