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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Physicians

Medicare Physician Fees: Geographic Adjustment Indices Are Valid in Design, but Data and Methods Need Refinement
Discusses Medicare's geographic practice cost indices (GPCI). Includes discussion of how these indices impact rural physicians, physician incomes, location, recruitment, and retention.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2005
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiary Access to Physician Services: Trends in Utilization of Services, 2000-2002
Reports on Medicare beneficiaries' access to physician services in 2000, 2001, and 2002, with comparison of rural versus urban access.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2005
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Physician Workforce: Supply Increased in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas but Geographic Disparities Persisted
Describes the change in supply of physicians from 1991 to 2001. Includes data nationally and by state on physicians in nonmetropolitan areas and on the number of specialists versus generalists. Includes a list of Health Resources and Services Administration programs that address the supply and distribution of health professionals, with 1991 and 2001 expenditures for each program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2003
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Who is Caring for the Underserved? A Comparison of Primary Care Physicians and Nonphysician Clinicians in California and Washington
Compares the geographic distribution and patient populations of physician and nonphysician primary care clinicians. Includes the proportion of clinicians within each discipline practicing in rural areas, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), and areas with vulnerable populations.
Author(s): Kevin Grumbach, L. Gary Hart, Elizabeth Mertz, Janet Coffman, Lorella Palazzo
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 1(2), 97-104
Date: 07/2003
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Characteristics and Roles of Rural Health Clinics in the United States: A Chartbook
Offers a comprehensive picture of the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program and the operations of RHCs. Covers characteristics of RHCs, staffing and recruitment, location, and more.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 01/2003
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Trends in Special Medicare Payments and Service Utilization for Rural Areas in the 1990s
Presents the findings of an analysis of payment trends for providers qualifying under Medicare special payment provisions for rural providers. Covers payment trends for rural hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and physicians.
Author(s): Donna O. Farley, Lisa R. Shugarman, Pat Taylor, et al.
Date: 06/2002
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Rural Research Focus: Rural Physician Shortages
Discusses a model for understanding how many physicians a rural community can support, based on research at the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center.
Author(s): George E. Wright, C. Holly A. Andrilla, L. Gary Hart
Date: 05/2002
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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The Proximity of Rural Black and Hispanic/Latino Communities to Physicians and Hospital Services
Reports the findings of a study based on 1990 data of how the demographic composition of rural communities relates to local physician concentrations and to distances to hospitals offering various levels of services.
Author(s): Donald E. Pathman, Thomas R. Konrad, Robert Schwartz
Date: 05/2001
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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If Fewer International Medical Graduates are Allowed in the U.S., Who Might Replace Them in Rural Underserved Areas?
Describes a study based on 1991 and 1996 data that identified rural communities that would be most affected by a decrease in availability of international medical graduates (IMGs) and perceptions of recruiters on who might replace IMGs in these areas.
Author(s): Leonard D. Baer, Thomas R. Konrad, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Date: 05/2001
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Update on the Physician Workforce
Compendium of three policy papers on the physician workforce, two of which address rural issues. The first paper provides data on the supply and distribution of physicians, including rural-specific national data, with state-by-state data in Appendix B. The second paper focuses on the rural family physician workforce, with supply projections through 2020.
Date: 08/2000
Sponsoring organization: Council on Graduate Medical Education
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