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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Recruitment and retention of health professionals

Treating Rural America: The Last Doctor in Town
3 part documentary discussing challenges with accessing healthcare in rural communities. Part 1, "The Last Doctor in Town," highlights shortages of physicians in rural areas. Part 2, "The New Country Doctors," discusses rural residencies and the role of a rural physician. Part 3, "The Telehealth Solution," discusses the role of telehealth as a possible solution for barriers to care. Captions are available in the video player.
Additional links: The New Country Doctors, The Telehealth Solution
Author(s): Hyacinth Empinado
Date: 2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: STAT
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Supporting and Sustaining the Current and Future Workforce to Care for People with Serious Illness: Proceedings of a Workshop (2023)
Summarizes discussions from an April 2023 public workshop exploring strategies and approaches to address major workforce challenges, including health professional well-being, workforce shortages, workforce training and retention, and advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the workforce. Includes a section on well-being of the clinical workforce in rural areas.
Author(s): Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Physician Practice Location Choices After Teaching Health Center (THC) Residency Training
Poster presentation from the National Rural Health Association 2023 Health Equity Conference evaluating the effectiveness of the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program at retaining rural trained primary care residents in rural and underserved areas of Oklahoma for post-residency practice.
Author(s): Denna Wheeler, Chad Landgraf, Indu Bhattarai, Krista Schumacher
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health
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Practicing in Different Settings: Community vs Hospital
Webinar comparing community health nursing, public health nursing, and hospital nursing. Includes a discussion of community health nursing in a rural setting compared to an urban setting. Discusses workforce shortages, nurse training, and more. Transcript available by clicking three dots under video.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: University of Texas at Arlington Center for Rural Health and Nursing
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HIMSS Healthcare Leadership Survey
Presents results of an October-November 2022 survey of healthcare executives regarding their outlook on organizational transformation and their readiness for the future. Identifies future priorities, challenges to reaching these priorities, and how they measure success. Covers financial readiness, healthcare workforce, health information technology, virtual patient care, cybersecurity, and more. Includes urban, suburban, and rural comparisons throughout.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
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Staffing Crisis Casts Shadow Over Vulnerable Rural Communities: Executive Summary
Summarizes key findings from a series of surveys of rural hospital leaders conducted in 2021 and 2022 regarding staffing shortages. Discusses COVID-19 vaccination and exemptions, nursing shortages and the impact on access to care, and the effectiveness of recruiting incentives on attracting staff.
Author(s): Michael Topchik, Troy Brown, Melanie Pinette, Billy Balfour, Ana Wiesse
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: The Chartis Group
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Virginia Community Services Boards Behavioral Health Services: 2022
Report on activities of Virginia's Community Services Boards (CSBs), the state's primary mechanism for providing publicly funded behavioral health services in local communities. Includes a section on CSBs' role in providing services to rural areas. Features statistics on numbers of substance use disorder and mental health consumers, with breakdowns by urban and rural CSBs.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
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Health Care Access in the Heartland: How to Improve Services in Rural America
Outlines strategies policymakers and community leaders in rural America can use to improve healthcare access and services. Combines data analysis of county demographics and health data with focus groups in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Provides expert interviews to better understand healthcare access in rural communities.
Author(s): Darren Chapman, Angie Cooper, Elizabeth Dombowsky, et al.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Forward
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2022 Hospital Nurse Staffing Study: Rural and Critical Access Hospitals
Uses the 2022 Hospital Nurse Staffing Survey in Texas to compare nurse staffing in 49 Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), 45 rural non-CAHs, and 239 non-rural hospitals. Discusses vacancy, turnover, and budgeting for the nurse workforce.
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, Texas Health and Human Services
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Access to Emergency Medical Services in Rural Communities: Policy Brief and Recommendations to the Secretary
Provides an overview of issues related to the provision of emergency medical services (EMS) in rural areas. Discusses rural EMS access, financing, and workforce challenges, as well as promising telehealth innovations. Outlines federal programs and resources that support EMS programs. Offers policy recommendations related to access to EMS, workforce, and reimbursement.
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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