<< Back to the abstract archive
Rural Plastic Surgery: Patient, Physician and Hospital Perspectives
Joseph Meyerson, Nick Vial, Gregory Pearson, Ernest Manders
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
2017-01-27
Presenter: Joseph Meyerson
Affidavit:
The submitted presentation has not been presented at a major meeting or published
Director Name: Gregory Pearson
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: General Reconstruction
Introduction: In the United States, 25 million people live in a designated health service area with no plastic and reconstructive surgeons (PRS) and 29 million people live in a designated health service area with <1 PRS per 100,000. There is currently a crisis in rural medicine due to doctor, and especially surgeon, shortages. Plastic surgeons are needed in rural surgery for their wide scope of surgical skills.
Methods: Three different surveys were sent to rural patients, referring physicians and hospital CEOs in Oregon. Questions included patient demographics and barriers to care, referring physician's referral patterns and understanding of plastic surgeon practices and CEO's interest in hiring plastic surgeons with and without salary support.
Results: Highlights of the survey responses demonstrate that rural patients may travel up to 170 miles to see a rural PRS for all types of surgical needs that a PRS may provide. Referring doctors are unfamiliar with the routine practices of a PRS and may refer rural patients hundreds of miles to see other specialists for procedures a PRS may offer in a rural community. CEOs of rural hospitals are unfamiliar with the routine practices of a PRS, but do believe they would benefit their hospital system, although they are worrisome about offering salary support.
Discussion/Conclusion: Rural plastic surgery is a rarely discussed topic with few studies dedicated to it. Here, for the first time, we discuss the specific issues that arise for a rural plastic surgeon's practice in regards to patients, referring physicians and hospital systems.
