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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce supply and demand

Does Your State Face Rural Area Provider Shortages?
Shares the percentage of each state's population living in a rural county, along with the following rural and urban healthcare workforce statistics: number of specialists per 100,000 population, number of primary care providers per 100,000 population, and the percent of counties that are wholly designated primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).
Date: 2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Healthcare Value Hub
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2017 Minnesota Statewide Health Assessment
Reports on an assessment of health for the people of Minnesota. Includes rural specific information on race/ethnicity, access to oral care, income, transportation, public water sources, food access, and healthcare. Provides maps of population changes since 1990 and health provider shortage areas by county.
Date: 2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Montana Healthcare Workforce: Statewide Strategic Plan, 2017
Provides guidance and outlines a healthcare workforce plan to address the unique needs of the state of Montana. Presents strategies in four main areas: engaging Montanans in understanding and addressing the state's healthcare workforce needs; educating and training the state's healthcare workforce to serve in frontier, rural, and underserved communities; recruiting health professionals to health professional shortage areas; and retaining a skilled healthcare workforce. Appendix includes numerous maps that allow comparison of health professions and sector trends at the county level.
Date: 2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Montana Healthcare Workforce Advisory Committee
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Maternity Care Services Provided by Family Physicians in Rural Hospitals
Describes current supply of maternal care providers in 437 rural hospitals, including statistics on cesarean delivery rates and provision of services, hospital size, community size, and requirements for procedural privileges.
Author(s): Richard A. Young
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 30(1), 71-77
Date: 2017
Type: Document
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Beyond the Farm: Rural Industry Workers in America
Provides data on employment by industry in completely rural counties. Includes maps showing county-level employment in different sectors, including a map focused on rural employment in educational services, healthcare, and social assistance.
Author(s): Lynda Laughlin
Date: 12/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Kentucky's Primary Care Workforce Shortages 2016-2025 and Recommendations for Increasing the Production of Primary Care Physicians for Kentucky
Presents data and information about the Kentucky primary care workforce, describes trainee pipelines supplying new physicians, and recommends strategies and tactics for improving this workforce. Includes statistics on various types of primary care providers in rural Kentucky, and support for the idea that rural background and rural clinical rotations are factors in primary care career choices by medical school graduates.
Author(s): Kevin A. Pearce, Carol Hustedde, Linda M. Asher, et al.
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Kentucky College of Medicine
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Evaluation of Policy Options for Increasing the Availability of Primary Care Services in Rural Washington State
Analyzes policy options that the Washington state legislature has considered to address a perceived shortage of primary care physicians in rural Washington. Provides background on the rural primary care workforce within the state and projects the impacts each policy option would have through 2025. Policy options considered include: opening a new medical school at Washington State University (WSU), increasing the number of residency positions in the state, increasing loan repayment incentives to encourage rural practice, increasing Medicaid payment rates for rural physicians, and encouraging the use of alternative primary care models.
Additional links: Summary and Key Findings
Author(s): Mark W. Friedberg, Grant R. Martsolf, Chapin White, et al.
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Wisconsin Physicians: Distribution by Specialty, Demographics, Population to Provider Ratios, Retirement
Provides detailed data on Wisconsin's physicians by specialty for different health service areas. Includes information summarized by region, and by urban and rural service area.
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Area Health Education Center System
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Most U.S. School Districts Have Low Access to School Counselors: Poor, Diverse, and City School Districts Exhibit Particularly High Student-to-Counselor Ratios
Examines trends in school counselor access. Discusses health-related roles counselors play, including meeting students' personal and social needs, supporting wellness programs, and advocating for students with disabilities. Includes data for rural areas.
Author(s): Douglas J. Gagnon, Marybeth J. Mattingly
Date: 10/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Predictors of Primary Care Physician Practice Location in Underserved Urban and Rural Areas in the United States: A Systematic Literature Review
Literature review on predictors of practice locations for primary care physicians. Literature includes 72 peer-reviewed articles published prior to November 2015. Discusses themes found including demographics, financial considerations, and medical training.
Author(s): Amelia Goodfellow, Jesus G. Ulloa, Patrick T. Dowling, et al.
Citation: Academic Medicine, 91(9), 1313-1321
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
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