Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Pharmacy workforce
Unapologetically Built Backwards: ONU HealthWise, Pharmacist-Driven Healthcare Access in Rural Ohio
Features a university pharmacy department in rural Ohio that prepares pharmacy students for rural practice while also providing mobile services in nearby rural counties. Describes how the program has expanded to offer interprofessional education experiences and serve a larger region.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Features a university pharmacy department in rural Ohio that prepares pharmacy students for rural practice while also providing mobile services in nearby rural counties. Describes how the program has expanded to offer interprofessional education experiences and serve a larger region.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Allied Health Workforce: Supporting Rural Providers, with Chris Laman
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Chris Laman, Vice President of Strategy at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. Focuses on the hospital's work developing and maintaining the rural allied health workforce. Part 2 in a 3-part series from the December 2025 Health Innovation Potluck held in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Chris Laman, Vice President of Strategy at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Oregon. Focuses on the hospital's work developing and maintaining the rural allied health workforce. Part 2 in a 3-part series from the December 2025 Health Innovation Potluck held in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Barriers to Implementing a Pharmacist-Led COPD CARE Bundle in Rural Settings: A Qualitative Evaluation
Examines barriers to implementing the COPD Coordinated Access to Reduce Exacerbations (COPD CARE) program, a care bundle focused on improving chronic obstructive pulmonary disease care coordination among pharmacists, nurse care managers, and other pharmacy clinicians in the Veterans Affairs system. Describes themes from clinician interviews, including discussion of staffing challenges, limited referral availability, fragmentation of care, technological limitations, and more.
Author(s): Edward Christopher Portillo, Martha Maurer, Steven Do, et al.
Citation: BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 13, e003178
Date: 03/2026
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Examines barriers to implementing the COPD Coordinated Access to Reduce Exacerbations (COPD CARE) program, a care bundle focused on improving chronic obstructive pulmonary disease care coordination among pharmacists, nurse care managers, and other pharmacy clinicians in the Veterans Affairs system. Describes themes from clinician interviews, including discussion of staffing challenges, limited referral availability, fragmentation of care, technological limitations, and more.
Author(s): Edward Christopher Portillo, Martha Maurer, Steven Do, et al.
Citation: BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 13, e003178
Date: 03/2026
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Virginia's Pharmacy Technician Workforce: 2025
An overview of the pharmacy technician workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Pharmacy Technician Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of pharmacy technicians in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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An overview of the pharmacy technician workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Pharmacy Technician Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of pharmacy technicians in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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Virginia's Pharmacist Workforce: 2025
An overview of the pharmacist workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Pharmacist Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of pharmacists in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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An overview of the pharmacist workforce in Virginia based on data from the 2025 Pharmacist Workforce Survey. Features statistics including the number of pharmacists in rural Virginia and how many grew up in rural areas.
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Department of Health Professions
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2024 Indiana Pharmacist Health Workforce Data Report
Provides an overview of the pharmacist healthcare workforce in Indiana as of 2024, with a focus on total licenses, employment status and practice location, workforce demographics, practice characteristics, and more. Includes county-level data on geographic distribution of pharmacists as well as population per pharmacist ratios.
Additional links: Workforce Brief
Author(s): Cleveland Dietz, Sierra Vaughn, Brittany Daulton
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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Provides an overview of the pharmacist healthcare workforce in Indiana as of 2024, with a focus on total licenses, employment status and practice location, workforce demographics, practice characteristics, and more. Includes county-level data on geographic distribution of pharmacists as well as population per pharmacist ratios.
Additional links: Workforce Brief
Author(s): Cleveland Dietz, Sierra Vaughn, Brittany Daulton
Date: 02/2026
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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Rural Health System Administrator Perspectives on Pharmacists' Role in Collaborative Drug Therapy Management
Examines the impact of pharmacist-led collaborative drug therapy modification (CDTM) on access to patient care in rural Georgia. Utilizes interview feedback from 7 primary healthcare system administrators regarding CDTM benefits and barriers, such as patient access to care, interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals, pharmacist knowledge and scope of practice, financial impacts, and more.
Author(s): Suzanne Whitten, Sharmon P. Osae, Russ Palmer, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 66(1), 102929
Date: 01/2026
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Examines the impact of pharmacist-led collaborative drug therapy modification (CDTM) on access to patient care in rural Georgia. Utilizes interview feedback from 7 primary healthcare system administrators regarding CDTM benefits and barriers, such as patient access to care, interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals, pharmacist knowledge and scope of practice, financial impacts, and more.
Author(s): Suzanne Whitten, Sharmon P. Osae, Russ Palmer, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 66(1), 102929
Date: 01/2026
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Examining Rural Community Pharmacists' Knowledge and Practices in Opioid Overdose Prevention and Treatment Services in the Southeastern United States
Highlights a study on the knowledge and practices of rural pharmacists around opioid use disorder-related education and counseling in the Southeastern U.S. Presents data by pharmacist demographic characteristics, knowledge, and experience with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
Author(s): Stefanie P. Ferreri, Paige Q. Ngo, Kaileigh D. Yen, Kevin Wang, et al.
Citation: Harm Reduction Journal, 23(11)
Date: 01/2026
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Highlights a study on the knowledge and practices of rural pharmacists around opioid use disorder-related education and counseling in the Southeastern U.S. Presents data by pharmacist demographic characteristics, knowledge, and experience with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
Author(s): Stefanie P. Ferreri, Paige Q. Ngo, Kaileigh D. Yen, Kevin Wang, et al.
Citation: Harm Reduction Journal, 23(11)
Date: 01/2026
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"The Crux of the Community": A Qualitative Focus Group Study of the Impact of Community Pharmacy Closures in Colorado and Utah
Discusses themes identified in focus groups of pharmacy workforce that had experienced a community pharmacy closure in Colorado or Utah. Themes discussed include community impacts, pharmacy operations, job experience, and patient impact. Highlights rural considerations throughout.
Author(s): Michael J. DiStefano, Nai-Chia Chen, Carl V. Asche, Kelly E. Anderson, T. Joseph Mattingly, II
Citation: Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 66(1)
Date: 01/2026
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Discusses themes identified in focus groups of pharmacy workforce that had experienced a community pharmacy closure in Colorado or Utah. Themes discussed include community impacts, pharmacy operations, job experience, and patient impact. Highlights rural considerations throughout.
Author(s): Michael J. DiStefano, Nai-Chia Chen, Carl V. Asche, Kelly E. Anderson, T. Joseph Mattingly, II
Citation: Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 66(1)
Date: 01/2026
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2025 West Virginia Health Sciences and Rural Health Report
Review of medical school enrollment, licensing rates, student debt ratios, residency training, and retention rates in West Virginia, with special focus on the Rural Health Initiative Program. Includes dental and pharmacy program profiles, and describes the Medical Student Loan Program and the Health Sciences Service Program, providing financial awards to health professionals who agree to practice in underserved areas of West Virginia.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
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Review of medical school enrollment, licensing rates, student debt ratios, residency training, and retention rates in West Virginia, with special focus on the Rural Health Initiative Program. Includes dental and pharmacy program profiles, and describes the Medical Student Loan Program and the Health Sciences Service Program, providing financial awards to health professionals who agree to practice in underserved areas of West Virginia.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
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