Geomapping telehealth access to developmental-behavioral pediatrics

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Telehealth

Background:

• Geographic information systems (GIS) mapping is an emerging tool for analyzing health service utilization.
• This study pioneers the use of GIS to quantify travel time and distance savings associated with pediatric specialty telehealth services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the travel time and distance savings offered by pediatric specialty telehealth services compared to in-person visits at a tertiary-care center.
• To assess the accuracy of different methods for calculating travel impedance in telehealth research.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective chart review of telehealth encounters was conducted.
• Patient addresses were geocoded, and actual road network travel times and distances were calculated.
• These were compared to hypothetical travel to the nearest tertiary-care facility for similar services.

Main Results:

• Over two years, 171 patients completed 255 telehealth visits across five sites.
• Telehealth visits resulted in median savings of 66.9 minutes and 63.8 miles.
• A road network-based method proved more accurate than straight-line calculations for travel impedance.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth significantly reduces travel burden for pediatric specialty care patients.
• Patients may accept some spatial accessibility challenges for overall improved access to care.
• Accurate travel impedance calculation necessitates road network-based methodologies.