How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care?
The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted both transportation and health systems. While about 40% of Americans have delayed seeking medical care during the pandemic, it remains unclear to what extent transportation is contributing to missed care. To understand the relationship bet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198221000452 |
| _version_ | 1819139127988191232 |
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| author | Katherine L. Chen Madeline Brozen Jeffrey E. Rollman Tayler Ward Keith C. Norris Kimberly D. Gregory Frederick J. Zimmerman |
| author_facet | Katherine L. Chen Madeline Brozen Jeffrey E. Rollman Tayler Ward Keith C. Norris Kimberly D. Gregory Frederick J. Zimmerman |
| author_sort | Katherine L. Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted both transportation and health systems. While about 40% of Americans have delayed seeking medical care during the pandemic, it remains unclear to what extent transportation is contributing to missed care. To understand the relationship between transportation and unmet health care needs during the pandemic, this paper synthesizes existing knowledge on transportation patterns and barriers across five types of health care needs. While the literature is limited by the absence of detailed data for trips to health care, key themes emerged across populations and settings. We find that some patients, many of whom already experience transportation disadvantage, likely need extra support during the pandemic to overcome new travel barriers related to changes in public transit or the inability to rely on others for rides. Telemedicine is working as a partial substitute for some visits but cannot fulfill all health care needs, especially for vulnerable groups. Structural inequality during the pandemic has likely compounded health care access barriers for low-income individuals and people of color, who face not only disproportionate health risks, but also greater difficulty in transportation access and heightened economic hardship due to COVID-19. Partnerships between health and transportation systems hold promise for jointly addressing disparities in health- and transportation-related challenges but are largely limited to Medicaid-enrolled patients. Our findings suggest that transportation and health care providers should look for additional strategies to ensure that transportation access is not a reason for delayed medical care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:17:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5388109039e3486dbc8c205b882a40be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1982 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T11:17:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives |
| spelling | doaj.art-5388109039e3486dbc8c205b882a40be2022-12-21T18:27:58ZengElsevierTransportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives2590-19822021-06-0110100338How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care?Katherine L. Chen0Madeline Brozen1Jeffrey E. Rollman2Tayler Ward3Keith C. Norris4Kimberly D. Gregory5Frederick J. Zimmerman6National Clinician Scholars Program, University of California (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Division of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Corresponding author at: National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA, 1100 Glendon Ave., Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA, USA.Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles, CA, USADepartment of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USALewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USADivision of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USADepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Cedars Sinai Medical Center & Burnes and Allen Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USADepartment of Health Policy & Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USAThe Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted both transportation and health systems. While about 40% of Americans have delayed seeking medical care during the pandemic, it remains unclear to what extent transportation is contributing to missed care. To understand the relationship between transportation and unmet health care needs during the pandemic, this paper synthesizes existing knowledge on transportation patterns and barriers across five types of health care needs. While the literature is limited by the absence of detailed data for trips to health care, key themes emerged across populations and settings. We find that some patients, many of whom already experience transportation disadvantage, likely need extra support during the pandemic to overcome new travel barriers related to changes in public transit or the inability to rely on others for rides. Telemedicine is working as a partial substitute for some visits but cannot fulfill all health care needs, especially for vulnerable groups. Structural inequality during the pandemic has likely compounded health care access barriers for low-income individuals and people of color, who face not only disproportionate health risks, but also greater difficulty in transportation access and heightened economic hardship due to COVID-19. Partnerships between health and transportation systems hold promise for jointly addressing disparities in health- and transportation-related challenges but are largely limited to Medicaid-enrolled patients. Our findings suggest that transportation and health care providers should look for additional strategies to ensure that transportation access is not a reason for delayed medical care during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198221000452Health careAccess to careTransportation equityCOVID-19Non-emergency medical transportationNEMT |
| spellingShingle | Katherine L. Chen Madeline Brozen Jeffrey E. Rollman Tayler Ward Keith C. Norris Kimberly D. Gregory Frederick J. Zimmerman How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives Health care Access to care Transportation equity COVID-19 Non-emergency medical transportation NEMT |
| title | How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? |
| title_full | How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? |
| title_fullStr | How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? |
| title_full_unstemmed | How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? |
| title_short | How is the COVID-19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care? |
| title_sort | how is the covid 19 pandemic shaping transportation access to health care |
| topic | Health care Access to care Transportation equity COVID-19 Non-emergency medical transportation NEMT |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198221000452 |
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