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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health occupations

Teaching Health Centers: A Promising Approach for Building Primary Care Workforce for the 21st Century
Provides information about Teaching Health Centers (THC), including the number of physicians choosing primary care following residency, location of practice, number of patients served by THCs, and characteristics of patients. Also discusses the impact that loss of federal funding may have on this graduate medical education training program.
Author(s): Leighton Ku, Fitzhugh Mullan, Cristine Serrano, Zoe Barber, Peter Shin
Date: 03/2015
Sponsoring organization: George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management
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The Future of Rural Behavioral Health
Policy paper discussing the unique challenges of providing behavioral healthcare services in rural areas. Includes policy recommendations and interventions related to workforce development, reimbursement and financing, integration of care, and the use of technology in delivering behavioral healthcare.
Author(s): Will Wilson, Angela Bangs, Tammy Hatting
Date: 02/2015
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Family Medicine Graduate Proximity to Their Site of Training: Policy Options for Improving the Distribution of Primary Care Access
Assesses the geographic relationship between graduate practice location and family medicine graduate medical education training sites. Results show an uneven geographic distribution between urban and rural primary care physicians. Report also states that family physicians are more likely to work in rural areas.
Author(s): Ernest Blake Fagan, Claire Gibbons, Sean C. Finnegan, et al.
Citation: Family Medicine, 47(2), 124-130
Date: 02/2015
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Intra Rural and Urban Primary Care Physician Findings: AAMC 2009 Physician Survey of Primary Care Chartbook
Analyzes primary care physician survey data that was assembled by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in 2009/2010 prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide baseline measures in which to compare potential post ACA application studies.
Author(s): Gary Hart
Date: 02/2015
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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Health Workforce, Healthy Economy
Highlights the health workforce as an economic development strategy, as well as a way to improve healthcare access, particularly in rural communities. Identifies gaps in Arizona's health workforce by examining previous reports and available data, such as the number of licensed healthcare providers by county. Includes maps of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
Date: 01/2015
Sponsoring organizations: St. Luke's Health Initiatives (now Vitalyst Health Foundation), Vitalyst Health Foundation
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Finding and Keeping Health Care Providers in Rural Communities: Culture Change in Recruitment at Rural Health Group
Discusses the importance of developing a team-based, patient-centered care culture that emphasizes relational, interpersonal, and leadership skills as a method for the effective recruitment of healthcare providers in rural communities.
Author(s): Brian O. Harris
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 76(1), 29-33
Date: 01/2015
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Empowering Promotores de Salud as Partners in Cancer Education and Research in Rural Southwest Kansas
Discusses a community-based participatory method providing cancer research training to promotores and to assess their capability to disseminate cancer research information to Latinos in rural Kansas.
Author(s): Ana Paula Cupertino, Mercedes Saint-Elin, Johana Bravo de los Rios, et al.
Citation: Oncology Nursing Forum, 42(1), 15-22
Date: 01/2015
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Tapping Nurse Practitioners to Meet Rising Demand for Primary Care
Discusses the use of advanced practice nurses, specifically nurse practitioners, to increase access to primary care for those residing in Health Professional Shortage Areas. Reports that nurse practitioners working in primary care are more likely than primary care physicians to work in rural areas. Suggests that the use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants could help reduce the primary care provider shortage in 2020 by two-thirds.
Author(s): Amanda Van Vleet, Julia Paradise
Date: 01/2015
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Nurse Staffing Levels and Quality of Care in Rural Nursing Homes
Examines the relationship between nurse staffing levels (registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, and certified nurse aide hours per resident per day) and the quality of care in rural nursing homes. Includes data for hospital-based facilities and freestanding nursing homes.
Author(s): Peiyin Hung, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice
Date: 01/2015
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Fewer Family Physicians Are in Solo Practices
Discusses the current trend of fewer family physicians engaging in a solo practice, which could affect access to healthcare in rural areas that are reliant on single physician facilities.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Elizabeth Baxley, Carlos Roberto JaƩn, Robert L. Phillips
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 28(1), 11-12
Date: 01/2015
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