SAS GEODIST FUNCTION CODE
SAS GEODIST FUNCTION ZIP

These results may be useful to researchers studying how patient travel distance to the hospital relates to topics such as healthcare access, decisions about where to obtain hospital care, and outcomes of medical and surgical treatment.

SAS GEODIST FUNCTION ZIP

Distances were generally longer for patients residing in ZIP Codes with greater area (covering more square miles). The shortest distances were in the Northeast region, New England division, and large central metropolitan areas. Geographically, the longest distances were in the South region, East South Central division, and noncore (rural) areas. Driving distances were approximately 30 percent longer on average than straight-line distances, and this relationship was relatively constant with only small variations for geographic area. straight-line) with little difference due to the patient or hospital geocoding method. Most of the difference in travel distance was due to the distance metric (driving vs. The median driving distance was 8.7 miles. Overall, the median straight-line patient-hospital travel distance was 6.6 miles, with 75 percent of distances less than 15 miles and 90 percent of distances less than 30 miles. There was a relatively small difference between the two patient geocoding methods (median of 0.6 miles) and a very small difference between the two hospital geocoding methods (median of 0.02 miles).

Finally, the distance between the patient and hospital location was determined using two different methods for calculating travel distance: straight line versus driving distance. Hospital location is determined from the hospital address provided by the American Hospital Association (AHA) using two different geocoding methods: AHA-provided geocodes versus Google Maps geocodes.

SAS GEODIST FUNCTION CODE

Patient location is determined from the patient ZIP Code in HCUP data using two different methods of geocoding: geographic centroid versus population-weighted centroid of the ZIP Code. Different methods are compared for identifying the latitude and longitude coordinates (geocodes) of the patient and hospital locations. This report examines patient travel distance to the hospital using inpatient data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Distribution of difference in travel distance (in miles) between scenarios, by patient region, division, and urban/rural location, 2018 Distribution of travel distance (in miles) by scenario, patient region, division, and urban/rural location, 2018 Distribution of difference (in miles) between geocode methods, by patient region, division, and urban/rural location, 2018

Sas geodist function