Geospatial Analysis of Postpartum Visit Adherence for Medicaid-Enrolled Mothers in Arizona

Music City Center 

Starting in mid-2022, Arizona Medicaid (AHCCCS) extended postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months to address postpartum complications. However, driving time to providers remains an understudied barrier to care. This retrospective study analyzed approximately 30,000 AHCCCS-enrolled mothers to assess the impact of driving time and social vulnerability on postpartum visit adherence defined by the HEDIS Prenatal and Postpartum Care (PPC) measure. We calculated one-way driving time to neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) reporting hospitals in 15-minute intervals. Vulnerable mothers were those residing in census tracts with high social vulnerability index (SVI) scores, low food access, no internet, or an opioid use disorder (OUD) diagnosis. Fisher's exact tests compared adherence rates between vulnerable and non-vulnerable mothers within each interval. Vulnerable mothers traveling over 60 minutes were significantly less likely to attend visits, with the largest disparities among those in high SVI or low food access areas.

Maternal Health

Health Services Accessibility

Healthcare Inequities

Social Vulnerability

Rural Health

Medicaid 

Health Policy Statistics Section