Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology
June 12, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Geospatial and insurance barriers to allergist access across the Midwest.
King C, Zhu J, Pappalardo AA, Frazier M, Bilaver L.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
Across the US Midwest, access to allergists is limited by long waits and distance, though 74.1% of practising allergists accept Medicaid.
What was studied
A telephone survey of 1,301 allergist-immunologist practice sites in 12 Midwest states (July-November 2025) with spatial accessibility modelling.
Key findings
- 613 practising allergists identified, 74.1% accepting Medicaid
- Only 6.6% offered appointments within 2 weeks
- Mean distance to the nearest allergist was 83.6 miles, and counties with primary care shortages had lower accessibility
Clinical relevance
Rural and publicly insured patients face overlapping barriers to specialty care.
Who should care
Limitations
Telephone survey results may not reflect actual availability, and findings are regional.
Consider telehealth and primary care-based allergy management where access is limited.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Background
Access to allergists in the United States is limited by geographic and insurance-related barriers. The national rate of Medicaid acceptance among allergists was previously reported to be 55.5%, but access across the Midwest has not been characterized.
Objective
To measure Medicaid acceptance rates, appointment wait times, and county-level spatial accessibility among allergist-immunologist practices across all 12 US Midwest states.
Methods
A telephone survey of 1301 allergist-immunologist practice sites was conducted from July to November 2025. County-level accessibility scores were calculated using a gravity-based 2-step floating catchment area method.
Results
Of the 613 practicing allergists identified, 74.1% accepted Medicaid; only 6.6% offered appointments within 2 weeks. The mean distance to the nearest allergist was 83.6 miles. Counties with whole-county primary care shortage designations had significantly lower allergist accessibility scores.
Conclusion
Insurance status, geographic isolation, and inadequate provider supply create overlapping barriers that disproportionately burden rural and publicly insured patients. Specialty care gaps compound existing primary care deficits. Workforce expansion, Medicaid reimbursement reform, and innovative care delivery models are urgently needed.
DOI
10.1016/j.anai.2026.06.010
PMID
42285294
PMCID
PMC13352392
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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