Heart trouble.
A new study has revealed that a shocking 22 million people in the US who are living in 1,454 counties don’t have any cardiologists.
After surveying all 3,143 counties in the United States, it was found that residents in 46.3% or about half of them cannot access a cardiologist which puts 22 million people at a higher risk and rate of cardiovascular disease and mortality, their life expectancy reduced by one year.
Policy makers, according to researchers, cannot ignore the relationship between the presence of diseases and the absence of the appropriate doctors.
“The lack of access to cardiologists in areas with greater prevalence of heart disease and mortality is incredibly concerning,” Haider J. Warraich MD, the director of the heart failure program at VA Boston Healthcare, associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the study’s senior author, said.
The study presents the situation as urgent and in need of immediate action on behalf of the states.
The results from a robust survey of the United States found that Native Americans and counties in the south were most likely to live without a cardiologist in reach. “Average round-trip distance to nearest cardiologist was 16.3 miles vs 87.1 miles in counties with and without cardiologists,” the study says.
Communities lacking access in comparison with counties with cardiologists saw an increase of cardiovascular risk by 31%. These areas tended to be rural with lower incomes overall, they also lacked insurance and access to primary care physicians. The hospitalizations, as a result, could have been prevented.
As the prevalence and threat of cardiovascular disease continues to widen a gap between urban and rural communities, researchers are calling for policy reform.
“Now that this study has made clear that there is a massive shortage of specialist physicians in large swathes of the United States, we really need to think about potential solutions,” researchers told IE.
That includes financial incentives that would encourage clinicians to practice in these areas or programs that would deliver care via telemedicine.
“Telemedicine is certainly one mechanism but current modalities for remote care have under-delivered. If there were a way for clinicians to get real time access to data collected from patients’ wearables and other technologies could also help. AI also has immense potential to be able to fill some gaps but it will have to be implemented thoughtfully.”
It proposes that “the integration and coordination of cardiovascular care—especially with regard to prevention and risk modification—with the primary care is crucial.”
As a study supported by the ACC, closing social and economic gaps in cardiovascular care remains the primary objective. Most recently, their efforts have included addressing the needs of indigenous communities.
As the leading cause of death globally, cardiovascular diseases kills an estimated 17.9 million a year. 80% of these cases are preventable with interventions such as diet, exercise, and proper regulation. The United States, particularly lower-income communities, reflect these figures.
The study’s findings are “enlightening and alarming,” according to JACC Editor-in-Chief Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC.
The study presents the situation as significant and in need of support from the state to mitigate this real public health concern. The public sector can reduce these numbers and prevent unnecessary mortalities.
Researchers published their study, “Geographic Disparities in Access to Cardiologists in the United States, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
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Maria Mocerino Originally from LA, Maria Mocerino has been published in Business Insider, The Irish Examiner, The Rogue Mag, Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and now Interesting Engineering.
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