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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce supply and demand

Assessing Shifts in Outpatient Visits to Physicians of Other Specialties in Rural Areas with Shortages of Cardiologists and Gastroenterologists: A Preliminary Analysis
Examines "service shifting" in rural communities, a practice by which local physicians in medical shortage areas may adapt their services to meet needs that would normally be addressed by non-primary care specialists. Includes statistics with breakdowns by level of availability of cardiologists and gastroenterologists, and number of outpatient visits, using Medicare data from 2011.
Author(s): Donald E. Pathman, G. Mark Holmes, Samuel Berchuck, James W. Terry, Jr.
Date: 04/2015
Sponsoring organization: The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
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Adjacent Border Analysis for Direct Patient Care Physicians
Provides an analysis of direct patient care physicians practicing along the North Dakota border using 2011 data from the American Medical Association physician master file.
Author(s): Gary Hart, Mandi-Leigh Peterson, Abdimajid Ahmed
Date: 04/2015
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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Estimating the Residency Expansion Required to Avoid Projected Primary Care Physician Shortages by 2035
Discusses the projected shortage of primary care physicians by 2035. Briefly mentions expanding graduate medical education training through the use of teaching health centers and rural training tracks to increase those who choose primary care.
Author(s): Stephen M. Petterson, Winston R. Liaw, Carol Tran, Andrew W. Bazemore
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 13(2), 107-114
Date: 03/2015
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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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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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Geographic and Specialty Distribution of US Physicians Trained to Treat Opioid Use Disorder
Illustrates the geographic distribution (rural-urban status) and the availability of physicians who receive waivers from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe medication and to treat patients with opioid use disorder.
Author(s): Roger A. Rosenblatt, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Mary Catlin, Eric H. Larson
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 13(1), 23-26
Date: 2015
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The 2014 Update of the Rural-Urban Chartbook
Updates information presented in Health, United States, 2001: With Urban and Rural Health Chartbook. Highlights current trends and disparities across different levels of metro and nonmetropolitan counties, including population characteristics; health-related behaviors and risk factors; mortality rates; healthcare access and use; mental health measures; and other health measures such as teen birth rates, tooth loss, and activity limitations due to chronic disease. Individual data tables are available in an Excel file.
Author(s): Michael Meit, Alana Knudson, Tess Gilbert, et al.
Date: 10/2014
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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State Innovation Models (SIM) Initiative Evaluation: Model Design and Model Pre-Test Evaluation Report
Reports on the experiences of 19 states that received federal support to work on state health care innovation plans focused on developing innovative healthcare delivery and payment models. Discusses rural concerns in these states, as well as strategies to address rural healthcare needs. Some topics addressed include patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, workforce, broadband access, electronic health record adoption, and telehealth.
Date: 07/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RTI International
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