The Pediatric Subspecialty Shortages Fact Sheets were produced in a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Board of Pediatrics.

Average and Maximum Travel Distances to Pediatric Subspecialists by State

  • Turner A, Ricketts T, Leslie LK. Comparison of Number and Geographic Distribution of Pediatric Subspecialists and Patient Proximity to Specialized Care in the US Between 2003 and 2019. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(9):852–860. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1124. ·
  • American Board of Pediatrics supplemental dashboard: Estimated Driving Distance to Visit a Pediatric Subspecialists.
  • The driving estimates and maps are intended to be illustrative of the workforce situation in a given area but cannot exactly depict the location of where care is provided.
  • This analysis was conducted in 2019 as an update to similar work completed in 2006 using 2003 data.  This analysis intentionally followed the same framework and methodology used in 2006.  
  • Data were originally pulled in June 2019 from the American Board of Pediatrics mailing address database and include a mixture of both personal and work addresses, which were used in the maps and calculations.  These data have not been updated since the 2019 analysis was completed.  Accordingly, these data may not accurately depict address changes or newly certified doctors since that time. 
  • Similarly, the analysis may not reflect a complete picture of the provision of care to children living well beyond a physician’s address due to intentional mitigating factors to shorten those distances (e.g., use of satellite office locations, telemedicine visits, locum tenens).  The data sources limited investigations into those strategies.
  • Distance calculations used geodesic straight lines from zip code to zip code (ZCTA) instead of actual driving distances. Therefore, distances are an estimate of actual drivetimes.  As noted in the original research article, “Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico were excluded from calculating the national average because of the extreme variance in distances associated with those jurisdictions.”
  • Given this analysis was completed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic’s impact on changing care patterns remains unknown.
  • As noted in the original research article, the analysis was “unable to determine full-time clinical equivalents, which likely resulted in overestimation of the current distribution of subspecialists, as our analysis assumed 1 full-time clinical equivalent per currently certified subspecialist. Retirement status and practitioner age were not considered, aside from using a cutoff point of aged 70 years and including only those currently certified.”  The age of 70 was used as a proxy for retirement given there were no other data available. 
  • The original article details the research methodology and limitations in more detail.

Percentage of Children with Special Health Care Needs by State

Number and Percentage of Children Nationwide with Special Health Care Needs

Number of Children in United States with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Number of Practicing Board-Certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatricians

Average Wait Time for a Pediatric Developmental Evaluation

  • Manuel Jimenez, et al., “Access to Developmental Pediatrics Evaluations for At-Risk Children,” Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, April 2017, Volume 38, Issue 3, p. 228-232, DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000427.

Racial Disparities in Autism Spectrum Disorder Evaluation and Diagnosis

Net Career Earnings for Pediatric Subspecialties Compared to General Pediatricians

Last Updated

03/26/2021

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics