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Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Workforce.

Addressing the Direct Care Workforce Shortage: A Bipartisan Call to Action
Report discusses direct care worker shortages throughout the country. Details shortages of home health aids, certified nursing assistants, and residential care aids, among other direct care workers, and makes recommendations for decreasing shortages. Highlights some of the added barriers faced by rural communities.
Author(s): Lisa Harootunian, Kamryn Perry, Allison Buffett, et al.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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The State of Rural Provider Compensation in 2023: Rural Provider & Advanced Practice Provider Compensation Survey Results
Results of a survey of over 6,000 rural providers, conducted in January and February of 2023 to provide insight into rural healthcare organizations and promote evidence-based, informed decisions when considering physician and advanced practice provider compensation. Features statistics with breakdowns by type of provider, specialty area, and Federal Office of Rural Health Policy region.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, Stroudwater Associates
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Keeping Rural EMS Reliable and Sustainable, with James Small
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring James Small, Rural EMS Outreach Director for the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health. Focuses on rural emergency medical services workforce and funding shortages, and how rural EMS can be maintained and expanded.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Lessons in Rural Leadership
Provides guidance on cultivating leadership among a rural behavioral health workforce. Highlights some challenges for building mental health workforce leadership curriculum and discusses local barriers faced by a rural behavioral health workforce, such as insurance coverage, transportation, and housing, among others.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
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Identifying Strategies for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Provides an overview of recent trends in the shortage of the nursing, primary care, and behavioral healthcare workforce in Virginia. Summarizes findings from an environmental scan and qualitative and quantitative data analysis regarding recruitment and retention strategies. Identifies interventions that could help the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) successfully address workforce shortages and which interventions should be prioritized based on desired policy outcomes. Presents a system dynamic model simulating the medium- to long-term supply and employment trends within Virginia's healthcare workforce under status quo conditions and under various policy interventions. Includes information on recruitment and retention in rural areas throughout.
Additional links: Annex, Research Brief: Recommendations for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Author(s): Megan Andrew, Brian Briscombe, Raffaele Vardavas, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Health is Primary: Charting a Path to Equity and Sustainability
Examines factors driving the downward trends in primary care, including fewer clinicians practicing primary care, fewer available appointments, lower spending on primary care, and fewer adults reporting that they have a usual source of primary care. Features a literature review, supply and demand analysis, and recommendations for potential solutions. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Slide Presentation
Author(s): Alison Huffstetler, Ann Greiner, Anam Siddiqi, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Primary Care Collaborative, Robert Graham Center
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2023 Health Workforce Research Symposium: Addressing Health Workforce Shortages Now & In the Future
A recording of the 2023 Health Workforce Research Symposium showcasing the work of 9 federally-funded health workforce research centers across the U.S. Focuses on health career education pathways and reducing health workforce turnover, with discussions specific to rural areas. Transcript available below description.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center
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First-Ever Rural Physician and Advanced Practice Provider Compensation Survey
Recording of an October 11, 2023, webinar discussing results of a January 2023 survey of rural hospitals regarding physician and advanced-practice provider compensation. Presents results for primary care and specialty care providers by provider type, hospital system affiliation, and region. Highlights factors that influence compensation and nurse practitioner practice environments by state. Transcript available in the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 10/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, Stroudwater Associates
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Demographic Characteristics and Work Experiences of Physician Scientists in the U.S.: Analysis of the 2022 National Sample Survey of Physicians (NSSP)
Compares demographics and work experience of physician scientists versus peers not engaged in research. Highlights similarities that physician scientists share with the broader physician workforce and ways in which their experiences diverge. Features demographics and statistics including population density in community of origin, with breakdowns by urban, suburban, or rural area.
Author(s): Alyssa Browne
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
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US Pediatric Primary Care Physician Workforce in Rural Areas, 2010 to 2020
Research letter assessing the growth and distribution of the general pediatrician and family medicine physician workforce from 2010-2020 across U.S. counties, and identifying sociodemographic characteristics of counties lacking these physicians. Features statistics with breakdowns by partly rural, entirely rural, and total counties.
Author(s): Tarun Ramesh, Hao Yu
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(9)
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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Last Updated: 1/19/2024