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Show Access to Health Care (Measured by Distance to Health Care Facility) Access to health care is a vital issue for the 22% of Utah's population living in rural and frontier areas of the state. Some parts of Utah are among the least populated areas in the United States, and hence residents may face unique difficulties in accessing health care. A method to study rural and frontier access issues has been the isochrone model.1 An isochrone is defined as "a geographic area that is within a specific time or 1 Task Force on Rural Health Policy Development (1993). Utah's Vision for Rural Health Care: A Framework for Action. Salt Lake City; author. distance from a health care delivery site."2 An "outlier area" is a geographic region outside the isochrone's boundaries.3 The State Department of Health's Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health Systems uses isochrones with distances that can be traveled within 30 to 40 minutes at the legal speed limit. Table 111 , compiled in 1993, includes population and health resource information by regional health care delivery site/isochrone. This is followed by Utah's isochrone map. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. p45. p45. 106 Health Care Costs, Access, and Quality |
