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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce

How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?: A Comprehensive Evidence Review
Provides an overview of trends in the primary care physician workforce and discusses the importance and value of primary care. Describes the growing demand for primary care services in the U.S., specifically highlighting rural areas.
Author(s): M. Renee Zerehi
Date: 2008
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
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2005 Physician Supply and Distribution in Rural Areas of the United States
Describes the 2005 supply and distribution of physicians with particular emphasis on generalists in rural areas. Discusses the role that osteopaths (DOs) and international medical graduates (IMGs) play in the rural physician workforce.
Additional links: Project Summary
Author(s): Meredith A. Fordyce, Frederick M. Chen, Mark P. Doescher, L. Gary Hart
Date: 11/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Medicare Program: Changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, Ambulatory Surgical Center System, Graduate Medical Education and Critical Access Hospital; Interim and Final Rule with Comment Period
Addresses changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and CY 2008 Payment Rates, the Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System and CY 2008 Payment Rates, the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and FY 2008 Payment Rates. Describes changes relating to the necessary provider designations of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and to the conditions of participation requirements. Also addresses changes to graduate medical education (GME) payments made to teaching hospitals that have Medicare affiliation agreements for certain emergency situations.
Citation: Federal Register, 72(227), 66579-67226
Date: 11/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Changes in the Rural Registered Nurse Workforce from 1980 to 2004
Describes changes in rural and urban registered nurse (RN) demographics, education, and employment characteristics over time.
Additional links: Project Summary
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, Lorella Palazzo, L. Gary Hart, Patricia Butterfield
Date: 10/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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State Initiatives Funded by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant Program
Explores activities funded by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program) in the previous two years to strengthen the rural health care infrastructure. Discusses which activities were considered most successful by State Flex Coordinators.
Additional links: Policy Brief, December 2007
Author(s): John Gale, Jennifer Lenardson, Walt Gregg, et al.
Date: 10/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services Meeting Minutes, Madison, Wisconsin, September 12-14, 2007
Minutes from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services' 57th meeting, which included discussions on several Wisconsin-specific healthcare and healthcare workforce issues, welfare reform, state Medicaid waivers, Toyota Motor Company's North American health initiatives, child poverty, and more.
Date: 09/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Rural Emergency Department Staffing: Potential Implications for the Quality of Emergency Care Provided in Rural Areas
Reports results of a study of rural emergency department staffing and discusses potential implications of staffing for the quality of emergency care provided in rural areas.
Date: 08/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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Trends in Licensed Health Professions in North Carolina, 1979-2005
Brings together 27 years of data on the supply and distribution of practitioners in 17 categories of healthcare professions in rural and urban North Carolina.
Date: 06/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
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Status and Future of Health Care Delivery in Rural Wyoming
Provides findings from an analysis of health care service delivery in rural Wyoming. Includes an overview of Wyoming's population and the health care service delivery system. Covers workforce recruitment and retention, the economic impact of the health care system, and other topics.
Additional links: Summary Report
Date: 06/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Nursing Workforce: HHS Needs Methodology to Identify Facilities with a Critical Shortage of Nurses
Reports on changes in the registered nurse (RN) shortage since 2000. Also discusses the impact of the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) and Nursing Scholarship Program (NSP) on the shortage of nurses.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 04/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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