title: Getting the urine to the lab: time to think outside of the specimen cup.
abstract: Rucker and colleagues examine the relationship between distance to a nephrologist and the likelihood of seeing a nephrologist. They demonstrate that increasing distance from a nephrologist has a 'protective effect' against seeing a nephrologist and is associated with a greater risk of hospitalization, a longer hospitalization, and a greater mortality risk. Implications of these associations as well as the mechanisms supporting them are explored.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA. szcze001@mc.duke.edu
authors.forename: Lynda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Szczech
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy* / Q000652:urine*; D009398:Nephrology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011320:Primary Health Care; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000628:therapy / Q000652:urine; D014481:United States