Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Investing in Primary Care: The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now
Describes opportunities to support advancement of preparation and growth for nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet the population's primary care needs. Explores the importance of NPs in rural and underserved communities, and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Limited Behavioral Health Provider Networks and Inactive Providers
Examines the availability of behavioral health providers in selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care networks in 2023. Analyzes provider network lists and MA and Medicaid encounter data for four MA and two Medicaid managed care plans from 10 selected urban and rural counties across five states. Describes the proportion of the behavioral health workforce in each county included in the plans' networks. Discusses the extent to which managed care plans had inactive providers in their network and why these providers did not deliver services to enrollees. Includes data on the percentage of inactive providers in rural and urban counties. Offers recommendations to monitor and improve the accuracy of provider networks.
Additional links: Report Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Characteristics of Family Medicine Physician Associates/Assistants in the United States
Examines characteristics of physician associates/assistants (PAs) who work in family medicine (FM). Utilizes 2023 National Commission on Certification of PAs (NCCPA) data to analyze PAs in FM, PAs working outside of FM, PA demographics, urban versus rural employment setting, practice characteristics, and more.
Author(s): Bethany Grubb, Cynthia F. Griffith, Mirela Bruza-Augatis, Kasey Puckett, Andrzej Kozikowski
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 1220
Date: 09/2025
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Rural-Urban Comparisons of Nursing Staff Turnover among Skilled Nursing Facilities
Results of a study assessing facility-level turnover rates for nursing personnel across levels of rurality and by region, using data from 14,986 facilities. Features statistics on turnover rates in 2022, with breakdowns by total nursing staff and registered nurses only, and by rural or urban areas. Also includes a county-level map showing average nursing staff turnover rates.
Author(s): Michael D. Wirth, Nick Yell, Peiyin Hung, Elizabeth Crouch
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
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The U.S. Dentist Workforce: Based on the Latest Available Data from Multiple Sources as of August 2025
Explores who makes up the dentist workforce, how and where dentists work, how practicing dentists are faring economically, and the future of the dentist workforce. Features statistics including the dentist-to-population ratio and average revenue per dentist, with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: American Dental Association, Health Policy Institute
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Skill Mix Versus Flexibility: Decoding Nurse Staffing Impacts on Critical Access Hospitals
Presents a study on the skill mix and flexibility of nurse staffing on the financial stability, care quality, and efficacy of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2023. Correlates skill mix and flexibility with hospital outcomes and controls for hospital-specific, socioeconomic, and demographic factors.
Author(s): Dinesh R Pai, Esmaeil Bahalkeh
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(3), e70075
Date: 08/2025
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Supply, Distribution, and Access to Cardiologists, Oncologists, and Pulmonologists in the Rural and Urban U.S.
Describes the changes in the supply and demand of four specialists - cardiologists, neurologists, oncologists, and pulmonologists - between 2012 and 2022. Compares data on the ratio of these specialists per 100,000 population across urban, large rural, and small/isolated rural areas. Explores the socioeconomic characteristics of rural counties with and without one of these specialists in 2022. Summarizes perspectives of rural health system leaders on how specialty care is accessed by and delivered to rural patients.
Author(s): Signe Burchim, David Evans, Nathan Maris, et al.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Interstate Occupational Licensure Arrangements to Expand Access to Behavioral Health Services
Policy brief describing state-based provisions to expand behavioral health services through interstate licensure arrangements for providers. Discusses potential impact on provision of behavioral health services, including telehealth, with a focus on how expanded services might enhance access for rural residents. Features state-level maps showing where legislation has been enacted or introduced, as of November 2024.
Author(s): Natalia V. Oster, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Davis G. Patterson, Lisa A. Garberson, Janessa M. Graves
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Disappearing Doctors: The Reshaping of Rural Healthcare and Its Impact on Rural Physician Recruitment
Blog post examining the shift in the number of independent physicians and practices in rural areas, and the decline in overall number of physicians practicing in these areas. Describes the rise in corporate and hospital employment and offers suggestions for recruitment strategies.
Author(s): Helen Falkner
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Jackson Physician Search
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Health Professional Shortage Areas: Mental Health
Printable map that shows nonmetropolitan and micropolitan mental health HPSAs on one color scale and metropolitan mental health HPSAs on another. Data source: data.HRSA.gov
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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