Improving Estimates of The Geographic Distribution of Pediatric Ophthalmologists to Identify Underserved Regions —Reply

In Reply We want to thank Oke et al for their responses to our recently published article that examined the geographic distribution of pediatric ophthalmologists in association with US population demographic characteristics. We agree that it is imperative to interpret our data within the context of the limitations we presented. Professional society memberships are free and accessible ways to estimate the geographic distribution of health care professionals of large areas, such as the US. We modeled our methods on several previously published reports that estimated physician distribution solely using professional society membership data. These databases cannot accurately account for nuances inherent to a health care professional ’s role or practice patterns, such as physicians who practice in multiple locations or general physicians who treat pediatric patients. However, we used both the AAO.org and AAPOS.org websites, as we believe these are reputable sources to which patients would also have access when attempting to lo cate a health care professional. We hoped to demonstrate the convincing and persistent gap in access to pediatric ophthalmic care that many families experience across the US to inspire conversations around this issue and direct future research.
Source: JAMA Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research