Approximately 44.2 million people in the U.S. live more than 60 miles away from the nearest cardiac positron emission tomography center, according to a study published Aug. 28 in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
Researchers from the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center used 2021 CMS and U.S. census tract data to calculate the number of cardiac PET centers in each state per 1 million residents and the median travel distance to those centers for state residents.
Here are seven things to know:
- There were 660 U.S. facilities offering cardiac PET in 2021.
- The states with the highest number of facilities offering cardiac PET were Texas (96), California (80) and Florida (78). There were no facilities offering cardiac PET in Montana, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wyoming or Puerto Rico.
- Based on population size per million, the states with the most facilities offering cardiac PET were Nevada (5.8), Louisiana (4.9) and Arizona (3.6).
- The median distance a U.S. resident had to travel to access a cardiac PET in 2021 was 19.7 km, or approximately 12 miles.
- Approximately 44.2 million people lived more than 100 km away from a facility offering cardiac PET, roughly 62 miles.
- The states and commonwealth with the longest travel distance for PET were Puerto Rico, Montana and Idaho. The states with the shortest travel distance were New York, Nevada and Arizona.
- Of 392 major metropolitan areas, more than half (221) did not have a facility offering cardiac PET within their boundaries.