Counties that lack a cardiologist also have fewer primary care physicians, The Washington Post reported July 29.
Research published July 8 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found 46.3% of counties lack a cardiologist. Of those, 86.2% are rural counties where residents tend to have less access to healthcare services overall. Around 10% of U.S. counties have a single cardiologist, the study found.
A lack of cardiologist and other specialty physicians leaves primary care doctors to make up the care gap. However, in counties without a cardiologist, there was an average of 41 primary care physicians for every 100,000 people, compared with 63 per 100,000 in counties with cardiologists.