Sep 20, 2010 By Herald Standard Staff 2 min read

Pennsylvania Medical Society recently placed Fayette and Greene on its county health-care access watch list. They are among 17 Pennsylvania counties displaying physician manpower or socioeconomic factors associated with limited access to care and/or have high hospital admission rates for one or more chronic diseases, a possible outcome of inadequate access to care. Fayette County made the list for:

n High hospital admissions for diabetes. Rates were more than 2 per 1,000 residents.

n High hospital admissions for asthma. Rates were 2.26 to 5.40 per 1,000 residents.

n High hospital admissions for chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease. Rates were from 6.51 to 9.84 per 1,000

residents.

n Average age of actively practicing direct patient care physicians is greater than or equal to 50 years.

n Rate of people living in poverty is more than 14.5 percent.

Greene County made the list for:

n High hospital admissions for heart failure. Rate is 7.75 to 10.04 per 1,000 residents.

n Counties with one or less ob/gyn in direct patient care.

n Thirty percent or more residents with no primary care physician.

n More than 55 percent of county physicians not able to get specialty referrals for patients.

n Rate of people living in poverty is more than 14.5 percent.

Source: Pennsylvania Medical Society’s third State of Medicine report and a companion study on physician supply and patient access. More information is available at www.pamedsoc.org/som2010.