A National Study of Lodging Organizations Supporting Patient and Caregiver Access To Care in the U.S

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Medical Travel Support Systems
• Geospatial Health Informatics

Background:

• Domestic medical travel necessitates accessible lodging for patients and caregivers.
• Existing lodging support systems are decentralized and their characteristics are not well-documented.
• Understanding these services is crucial for health services research and policy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document the characteristics, costs, and services of lodging organizations supporting domestic medical travelers.
• To introduce a publicly accessible, geocoded national dataset of these organizations.
• To inform health services research and policy related to medical travel.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional descriptive study of 502 U.S. lodging organizations serving medical travelers (April 2023-May 2024).
• Data collection via website review, directories, and direct outreach; geospatial mapping using ArcGIS and R.
• Chi-square tests used to compare pediatric-only versus adult/all-age facilities.

Main Results:

• 52.4% of organizations offered free lodging; 84.7% advertised financial assistance.
• Pediatric-only facilities (40.8%) were more likely to offer support services (99.0%) and lower-cost accommodations.
• Services included meals (53%), transportation (41%), and domestic support (33%); affiliations varied (44.4% independent/hospital-based).

Conclusions:

• Lodging organizations form a vital support network for medical travelers, exhibiting structural variations and equity gaps.
• Findings support recognizing lodging as a health-related social need.
• Potential integration into value-based care, Medicaid waivers, and hospital community benefit strategies is suggested.