(359) Perception of Healthcare by Survivors of Critical Illness

Introduction: Healthcare systems are constantly evolving which impacts clinical practice and accessibility. These changes in our healthcare networks can increase the health disparities that present differently in urban and rural populations. How patients perceive their healthcare providers is related to how they choose to access care and how confident they are discussing their health with their providers. Patients’ perspectives on their healthcare and access to healthcare services may differ based on rurality. The aim of our study is to compare differences between rural and urban patient perspectives on access to and confidence in healthcare services.

Methods: A prospective survey will be provided to patients in the ICU Recovery Clinic and in addition to patients visiting other providers in the Kentucky Clinic at the University of Kentucky. The goal enrollment is 50 patients to complete our survey. The survey consists of questions for the patient to self-identify zip code, race/ethnicity and gender and questions about their perceptions of access to, deliver of and knowledge of healthcare services. Patients were grouped based on rural and urban locations defined by their zip code and using the Rural Health Information Hub map. Descriptive statistics were completed in addition to chi square to compare groups for each survey question. A secondary analysis was completed to group patients by race.

Results: The pilot results are as follows for the 8 patients enrolled thus far. Of the 8 patients, 5 (63%) were white, and 4 (50%) reside in rural areas. Almost all the patients (88%) have primary care providers and most (63%) reported visiting every 6 months. Due to our pilot sample size, no statistically significant differences were identified between groups. Of clinical significance, patients residing in urban areas asked follow-up questions more often to their provider and had less comorbid conditions (n=1) compared to rural patients (n=3).

Conclusions: Our study highlights how perspectives on access to healthcare services and comfortability with their providers are different based on race or rurality. Our study is the foundation to identify how patient perspectives of healthcare services and providers impact long-term outcomes.