A new study in JAMA found that people who need organ transplants may be less likely to get them based on where they live.

Patients living in rural areas are less likely to join the ranks of the approximately 25,000 people who receive organs each year.

"What we found was that patients who lived in the country were less likely to receive a heart, liver or kidney transplant compared to patients who lived in the city." said Dr. David Axelrod of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

In fact, rural people were 15 percent less likely to go on wait lists, and 20 percent less likely to get a heart, liver or kidney.

"When you look at our study it suggests that the barrier to transplantation is not from within the transplant centers, but it's really the barriers to getting in the front door in the first place," Axelrod said.

The study in JAMA looked at a national sample of transplant patients from 1999 to 2004.

Axelrod said further studies are necessary to fully understand the differences in transplant rates and the potential barriers in access to care.