title: Changes in emergency department access between 2001 and 2005 among general and vulnerable populations.
abstract: (1) 11.4 million people faced some degree of deterioration in geographic access to emergency care between 2001 and 2005. (2) Residents in rural communities have poorer access to emergency depart­ments at baseline and experienced a greater decline in emergency depart­ment access than those living in urban communities between 2001 and 2005. (3) Deteriorating access to emergency departments is more likely to occur in communities with economic hard­ship and high shares of Hispanic populations, as well as in rural areas that are part of a designated health professional shortage area.
authors.affiliation: Changes in Health Care Financing & Organization (HCFO), USA. christina.zimmerman@academyhealth.org
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D011156:Population Density; D011204:Poverty Areas; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000639:trends; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations