A team of Culverhouse researchers at the University of Alabama has published a study that analyzed travel distances of Medicare patients to cancer treatments in the Deep South. Using Medicare claims data from RealTime Medicare Data, they found that rural Medicare beneficiaries residing in the Deep South travel significantly greater distances than their urban counterparts. Additionally, travel distances to prostate cancer treatments are significantly higher than those to breast or colorectal cancer treatments. The study, authored by Mary Wills, Associate Professor Marilyn Whitman, and Assistant Professor Tom English, has been accepted in the Journal of Healthcare Management, the official journal of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

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