Some patients choose to bypass their nearest hospital to find surgical care further away, but this has negative consequences for outcomes and cost of care, a recent study found.
The study, published Feb. 18 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, analyzed data from 22,902 patients across Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin. These states were selected for their different types of rural landscapes and various levels of road connectivity, according to a Feb. 19 American College of Surgeons news release.
Here are three study findings:
1. Of patients, 11.3% traveled at least 10 miles past the nearest hospital where general surgery was performed. Patients who bypassed their nearest hospital were more likely to be from rural areas.
2. Going to a hospital further away was associated with 22% higher odds of presenting with progressed disease and 20% higher odds of a hospital stay longer than six days.
3. However, patients who bypassed their nearest hospital saw 48% lower odds of being transferred to another hospital after admission.
“Bypassing your nearest hospital for emergency surgery is a high-stakes decision,” Mustafa Abid, MD, senior author of the study, and surgery resident at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said in the release. “Our findings suggest that while patients may be trying to get to the ‘right place’ for care immediately, the extra time spent traveling appears to come with a clinical cost, including more severe illness by the time they reach the operating room. We need to understand what’s driving these decisions and how we can better support patients in getting timely, effective care.”
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