Geographic Disparities and Solutions
The new study also highlighted the scarcity of rheumatology providers in rural counties, which was also an important take away from the 2015 ACR study. In the new analysis, researchers found that 95% of rheumatology practices were in urban settings, which did not change over the study period. Most counties in the United States had fewer than 30 rheumatologists per 1 million adults, with 93% of rural counties having zero adult rheumatologists. In comparison, 48% of urban counties had no adult rheumatologists.
“There’s not enough people, and they’re in very specific locations,” Dr. Dr. Mannion said. “Both things make it harder for people to get care.”
Dr. Battafarano noted that leveraging APPs would be key to increasing patient access to care moving forward — a resource that has more than doubled in the past decade, according to Dr. Dr. Mannion’s analysis.
“Recruiting a significant number of APPs into rheumatology practice should be a primary goal to increase the rheumatology workforce,” he said. Other potential solutions, he added, include employing telemedicine and educating primary care providers on rheumatic disease to help them comanage these conditions with rheumatologists.
This study was partially funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Dr. Mannion was supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation Norman B. Gaylis, MD Clinical Research Award, paid to her institution. Dr. Battafarano had no relevant disclosures.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.