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Vitals Ranks America's Top Cities for Access to Pediatric CareLYNDHURST, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- When kids are sick, parents want the best care possible - and quick! To find out which cities have access to the best pediatric care, the Vitals Index looked at the top 200 metros in the country. The study revealed that while large metropolises have high under-18 patient to pediatrician ratios, mid-sized cities scored better in categories such as access and quality. Grand Rapids, Michigan ranked #1 on the debut list, followed by Salt Lake City, Utah, #2, and Aurora, Colorado, #3. To create the list of America's Top Cities for Access to Pediatric Care, Vitals analyzed the number of pediatricians available in each city on a per-capita basis for their under-18 population. Patient-reported metrics such as pediatrician ratings, ease in getting an appointment and wait times were also calculated into the final rankings. Eight of the bottom ten cities were in Texas and California. Both states have high numbers of immigrants crossing their borders. The current increase in refugees is expected to tax an already strained pediatric care system there. All of the cities ranked in the bottom had under-18 populations higher than the national average of 23.3 percent.
Disparities in the number of pediatricians correlated to wait time. In some of the top-ranked cities, pediatricians were able to keep wait times under 15 minutes. (The national average is 20 minutes, 16 seconds.) Meanwhile, children from the worst ranked cities are waiting more than one half-hour. "Doctor shortages are being seen everywhere, but it's disheartening when there's a lack of access to quality care for children," said Mitch Rothschild, CEO of Vitals. "The rise of alternative care facilities, like urgent care and retail clinics, along with more nurse practitioners and doctor assistants stepping will hopefully bring affordable quality care options to children in areas where it most needed." The cities ranked highest on America's Top Cities for Access to Pediatric Care include:
To see the full list of city rankings, visit Vitals.com. About Vitals Vitals is reinventing the way people choose doctors and medical facilities. We provide increased transparency to cost, quality and access information to support effective decision making. Vitals brings together actionable data, online tools and an engaging consumer experience that empowers consumers to make more informed, higher-quality and lower-cost health care decisions. Through health plans, hospitals and our leading consumer websites, Vitals helps more than 150 million people each year access information for better, more affordable care. The Vitals Index is an ongoing report about the state of doctor-patient relationships based on proprietary data and surveys. Follow us on Facebook (News - Alert), LinkedIn or Twitter.
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