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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Primary care

The Crisis in Rural Primary Care
Describes issues facing primary healthcare in rural America including: a declining number of students choosing this career path, low compensation rates, rising malpractice premiums, professional isolation, limited time off, and the scarcity of jobs for spouses.
Date: 04/2009
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Specialty and Geographic Distribution of the Physician Workforce: What Influences Medical Student & Resident Choices?
Identifies factors that influence medical student and resident choices regarding medical specialties and location of practice. Specifically examining student and resident choices surrounding primary care specialties and serving rural populations. Discusses student debt and the impact of loan repayment and scholarship programs on practice setting choice.
Date: 03/2009
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Minutes, Washington, DC, February 18-20, 2009
Reports on a meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services focused on healthcare provider integration, health workforce, and home-based care for seniors.
Date: 02/2009
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Wyoming Primary Care Gaps and Policy Options
Provides an overview of the primary care workforce shortages in Wyoming. Discusses examples and policy options that could be implemented to bolster the primary care workforce within the state. Provides statistics on primary care providers by county and by provider characteristics.
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Mark P. Doescher, Barbara J. Robinson
Date: 12/2008
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
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Addressing Healthcare Workforce Issues for the Future: Hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Provides the final transcript from a Senate committee hearing focused on the future supply of primary care providers. Includes statements, questions, and answers from senators, health workforce experts, and the Health Resources and Services Administration focusing on health care provider shortages in rural areas. Discusses policies intended to address these shortages.
Date: 02/2008
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?: A Comprehensive Evidence Review
Provides an overview of trends in the primary care physician workforce and discusses the importance and value of primary care. Describes the growing demand for primary care services in the U.S., specifically highlighting rural areas.
Author(s): M. Renee Zerehi
Date: 2008
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
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Preventing Hospitalizations in Depressed Rural Primary Care Patients
Policy brief examining whether depressed rural primary care patients are more likely than urban patients to be hospitalized for mental and physical problems. Investigates differences in hospitalization rates and if differences can be explained by specialty outpatient care. Determines whether rural patients face more insurance barriers to outpatient care.
Author(s): Scott Adams, Stan Xu, Fran Dong, Kathryn Rost
Date: 05/2007
Sponsoring organization: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
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Will Rural Family Medicine Residency Training Survive?
Examines the performance of rural residencies in the National Resident Matching Program as an indicator of their viability.
Author(s): Roger Rosenblatt, Amy Hagopian, Holly Andrilla, Gary Hart
Citation: Family Medicine, 38(10), 705-711
Date: 11/2006
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Access, Health, and Wealth: The Impact of the National Health Service Corps in Rural America, 1970-2000
Examines 30 years of the National Health Service Corps' (NHSC) operation and its impact on rural America. Provides a detailed breakdown of healthcare professional providers who participated in the program, and includes information on mortality rates and self-reported health status for people living in rural Health Professional Shortage Area counties that were staffed with NHSC physicians. Also provides data on the economic impact for communities with NHSC personnel for selected states.
Author(s): George Fryer, Jessica McCann, Martey Dodoo, et al.
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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How Adults' Access to Outpatient Physician Services Relates to the Local Supply of Primary Care Physicians in the Rural Southeast
Examined how access to outpatient medical care varies with local primary care physician densities across primary care service areas in the rural Southeast, for adults, the elderly, and the poor.
Author(s): Donald E. Pathman, Thomas C. Ricketts III, Thomas R. Konrad
Citation: Health Services Research, 41(1), 79-102
Date: 02/2006
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