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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Workforce.

Diversity in Medicine: Facts and Figures 2019
Provides detailed statistical information about race, ethnicity, and sex in medical education and the physician workforce in the United States. Displays applicant, matriculant, and graduate data for the academic year 2018-2019 and faculty and workforce data for 2018.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 2019
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
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Impact of Nurse Practitioner Practice Regulations on Rural Population Health Outcomes
Analyzes data from Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in eight Southeastern states to determine if clinical outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries vary by level of practice autonomy that states grant to nurse practitioners (NPs).
Author(s): Judith Ortiz, Richard Hofler, Angeline Bushy, et al.
Citation: Healthcare, 6(2), 65
Date: 06/2018
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Closing Behavioral Health Workforce Gaps: A HRSA Program Expanding Direct Mental Health Service Access in Underserved Areas
Commentary describing HRSA's Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program, an initiative to address behavioral health disparities through supply and distribution of providers to underserved areas. Includes statistics on employment status and location of 1,975 graduates of the program.
Author(s): Hayden O. Kepley, Robin A. Streeter
Citation: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54(6), Supplement 3, S190-S191
Date: 06/2018
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Where Are They? Examining General Surgery Workforce Issues
Describes challenges related to getting adequate data on the rural surgical workforce and what is needed to understand rural shortages.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Comprehensive Rural Population Health: Where is the General Surgeon?
Provides an overview of the role that general surgeons play, discusses the importance of surgical access, and describes efforts underway to attract students into the field and to train the rural surgical workforce.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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The Rural General Surgeon's Partner: Rural Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Describes the role that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) play in rural surgery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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The Health Care Workforce: Addressing Shortages and Improving Care
Testimony in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on May 22, 2018. Examines the growing problem of healthcare shortages in rural areas and the response by the federal government. Also explores how well healthcare professionals are being trained and why they choose the geographical areas where they work. Focuses on shortages of physicians, nurses, and professionals specializing in care of older adults.
Additional links: Testimony by Elizabeth A. Phelan, Testimony by Julie Tanner Sanford, Testimony by Kristen H. Goodell
Author(s): Kristen Goodell, Julie Sanford, Elizabeth Phelan
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Physician Assistants: Modernize Laws to Improve Rural Access
National Rural Health Association policy paper describing benefits to rural communities when practice barriers are removed and payments are sufficient to attract physician assistants to the area. Includes recommendations to help achieve this goal.
Author(s): Roger Wells, Megan Cody, Robert Alpino, Melissa Van Dyne, Ross Abbott, et al.
Date: 04/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Rural Family Physicians in Patient Centered Medical Homes Have a Broader Scope of Practice
Results of a study to determine whether rural family physicians in Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) practices have a broader scope of practice than those in non-PCMH practices. Features statistics including physician characteristics and scope of clinical services, with breakdowns by PCMH and non-PCMH and by large rural, small rural, and frontier areas.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Bo Fang
Date: 02/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
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Rural Family Physicians Have a Broader Scope of Practice than Urban Family Physicians
Results of a study to determine differences between rural and urban family physicians in scope of practice for clinical and procedural care in 2014 and 2015. Features statistics including physician characteristics and percentages of physicians providing various types of services and care, with breakdowns by metropolitan, large rural, small rural, and frontier areas.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Bo Fang
Date: 02/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
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