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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce supply and demand

Opportunities to Improve Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Services: Integrating Responses to a Dual Epidemic
Examines opioid use and drug-related infectious diseases. Identifies the barriers to integration of opioid use disorder (OUD) and infectious disease services, including barriers faced in rural areas such as workforce shortages. Offers strategies to overcome those barriers. Offers case studies of programs that have successfully integrated services, including programs serving rural areas. Includes policy recommendations.
Additional links: Read Online, Report Highlights
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center Task Force Report
Reports on the work of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center Task Force in Illinois that collected data, examined strategies, and received input from stakeholders from November 2018 to December 2019 in response to the 2018 declaration of an Illinois Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Emergency. The report covers workforce shortage data, evidence-based behavioral health interventions, and taskforce recommendations. Appendix C includes county-level data on behavioral workforce licensures as of 2019. Includes rural references throughout.
Author(s): Sharon Post
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Illinois General Assembly
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The Landscape of Obstetric Resources and Risks in Indiana: A Framework for Informing Policy
Provides insight on access to obstetric care resources and infant or maternal health risk factors in Indiana communities. Presents a framework that can be used for targeting state and health system policy and planning by analyzing resources, such as obstetric providers and hospitals with obstetric services, and health risks. Includes a county-level map with breakdowns showing 4 levels of access to obstetric care services, 3 levels of maternal or infant health risks, and shadings to indicate rural counties.
Author(s): Hannah Maxey, Courtney Randolph, Sierra Vaughn
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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Strategic Choice in Developing Telemedicine - Observations from Three Organizations
Discusses organizational considerations such as local and regional market conditions and economics for hospital systems incorporating telemedicine into their healthcare services. Features a literature review and results of interviews with Kaiser Permanente Southern California, the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Explores challenges and plans for expansion of services to underserved areas.
Author(s): Thomas Vaughn, Fred Ullrich, Muska Nataliansyah, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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A Shrinking Primary Care Workforce in Puerto Rico
Discusses Puerto Rico's aging primary care workforce and concerns about the number of healthcare professionals who have left the island following the 2017 hurricane and the relatively low recruitment and retention rate for graduates of Puerto Rico's residency programs. Features statistics showing primary care physician age distribution in Puerto Rico compared with the rest of the United States in 2018.
Author(s): Elizabeth Wilkinson, David Killeen, Gabriel José Pérez-López, Yalda Jabbarpour
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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Oral Health Status of Low-Income Children in Pennsylvania: A Rural-Urban Comparison
Describes research examining the oral health component of the Medical Assistance (MA) program for Pennsylvania children, additional oral health programs and services, the supply and distribution of Pennsylvania dentists, and the overall oral healthcare delivery system for low-income children in rural Pennsylvania. Features statistics including the number of general dentists and specialists who were active MA providers as of 2017, with breakdowns by urban or rural location, and a county-level map showing low-income Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas by rural status as of 2018.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Lisa Davis, Kelly Braun, Myron R. Schwartz
Date: 11/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Beyond the Numbers: Access to Reproductive Health Care for Low-Income Women in Five Communities
Highlights the key findings, major themes, and the extent of the challenges faced by low-income women in accessing reproductive and sexual healthcare in urban and rural areas. Identifies promising practices developed by providers to address barriers to care and improve access to healthcare.
Author(s): Usha Ranji, Michelle Long, Alina Salganicoff, et al.
Date: 11/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Health Management Associates, KFF
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Growth and Distribution of Child Psychiatrists in the United States: 2007-2016
Results of a study exploring trends in the growth and distribution of child psychiatrists in the United States from 2007-2016, noting differences in access in urban and rural areas. Includes statistics on the numbers of children and child psychiatrists in each state, and a county-level map showing the percent of change during the decade studied.
Author(s): Ryan K. McBain, Aaron Kofner, Bradley D. Stein, et al.
Citation: Pediatrics, 144(6), e20191576
Date: 11/2019
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California County Fact Sheets: Treatment Gaps in Opioid-Agonist Medication Assisted Therapy (OA-MAT) and Estimates of How Many Additional Prescribers Are Needed
Presents county-level estimates of opioid use disorder rates and treatment needs in California. Features statistics including opioid overdose deaths, buprenorphine prescriptions, number of treatment programs, and estimates of buprenorphine-waivered prescribers.
Author(s): Lisa Clemans-Cope, Marni Epstein, Douglas A. Wissoker, Joshua Aarons
Date: 11/2019
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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California's Midwives: How Scope of Practice Laws Impact Care
Compares the scope of practice, professional licensures, regulatory systems, and educational requirements for licensed midwives (LMs) and nurse-midwives (NMs) in California. Appendix provides per capita distribution data for midwives by county within the state.
Author(s): Connie Kwong, Margot Brooks, Kim Q. Dau, Joanne Spetz
Date: 10/2019
Sponsoring organization: Healthforce Center at UCSF
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