When a Straight Line Is Not the Most Direct Method: an Evaluation of Straight Line Versus True Distance Metrics for
Jennifer M Ludrosky1, Amanda Newhouse2, Erin Hudnall3
1Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute West Virginia University, 930 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, WV, 26508, USA. jmludrosky@hsc.wvu.edu.
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.
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