How Many Miles to the Doctor?

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Abstract
We used detailed information from 16 states to determine the distance that residents of outlying areas (or of towns of less than 25,000, outside metropolitan areas) must travel to receive various types of medical care. For both 1970 and 1979, we found that approximately 80 per cent of such residents lived within 10 miles' driving distance of some physician and 98 per cent lived within 25 miles. Most of the remaining 2 per cent lived in areas so sparsely settled that physicians will not find them economically attractive as practice locations.