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Rural Healthcare Workforce – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Workforce.

Rural Health Research Recap: Rural Nursing Workforce
Provides summaries of research on the rural nursing workforce. Features statistics on RN-to-BSN education programs, nurse practitioners as primary care providers, job preparedness and satisfaction, rural challenges, and distribution of nurses across principal employers from 2011-2015, with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 12/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Family Physicians in Rural America: Training, Distribution, and Scope of Practice
Webinar presented November 9, 2021, exploring training of family physicians in rural areas, family physician workforce distribution, and rural/urban differences in scope of practice. Features statistics including availability of obstetrical clinicians as of 2019, with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore locations.
Additional links: Presentation Slides, Transcript
Author(s): Lars Peterson, Davis Patterson
Date: 11/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Health Workforce Strategic Plan
Provides a framework for health workforce improvements and addresses long-standing barriers to strengthening the health workforce. Focuses on recruiting and training health professionals from underserved communities to build a diverse, representative health workforce; ensuring equitable distribution of the workforce across geographic areas and health professions; strengthening the ability of the workforce to deliver high-quality care, including through strengthening cultural and linguistic competency of professionals; and using evidence and data to make better decisions about health workforce education and training investments. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Comments from Federal National Advisory Committees
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Improving Behavioral Health Services for Individuals with SMI in Rural and Remote Communities
Discusses behavioral health workforce shortages in rural and remote areas and the effect this has on healthcare access for people with serious mental illness (SMI). Highlights strategies for reducing barriers to access and improve workforce retention. Provides examples of programs to improve access in various states.
Date: 08/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Psychiatric Association, SMI Adviser, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area Designations Before and After the Affordable Care Act's Shortage Designation Modernization Project
Results of a study using Health Resources and Services Administration files and county-level Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area (PC-HPSA) designations, population, and primary care physician (PCP) counts from 2010 to 2018, to determine HPSA trends and population-to-PCP ratios. Features county-level maps showing geographic distribution of PC-HPSA designations in 2010 and 2018, and statistics on temporal changes in PC-HPSA designations and population-to-PCP ratios.
Author(s): Christopher A. Scannell, Jacob Q. Quinton, Nicholas J. Jackson, Yusuke Tsugawa
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(7)
Date: 07/2021
Type: Document
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Training Needs to Prepare the Healthcare Workforce for Rural Practice
Issue brief focused on improving the health of rural communities through strengthening the rural healthcare workforce. Discusses key principles to promote rural graduate medical education, Area Health Education Centers, and special considerations for rural training and practice.
Date: 06/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Council on Graduate Medical Education
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The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2019 to 2034
Projects future supply of active physicians by examining trends in key determinants and the sensitivity of supply projections to changes in determinants. Features statistics including projected demand for primary care or non-primary care specialties by urban or rural location, with breakdowns by 6 levels of population density.
Author(s): Tim Dall, Ryan Reynolds, Ritashree Chakrabarti, et al.
Date: 06/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
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A Dire Shortage and Getting Worse: Solving the Crisis in the Health Care Workforce
Video of a May 20, 2021 U.S. Senate hearing with testimony from representatives of the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Medical Association, Albany (Georgia) Area Primary Health Care, and the University of New England. Examines lack of access to high-quality care in rural and underserved areas, and the importance of training students likely to practice in rural areas.
Additional links: David J. Skorton Statement, James D. Herbert Statement, Leon McDougle Statement, Shelley Spires Statement
Author(s): David J. Skorton, Leon McDougle, Shelley Spires, James D. Herbert
Date: 05/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Evaluation of the 2020 Pediatric Emergency Physician Workforce in the US
Results of a study of 2,403 self-identified pediatric emergency physicians (EPs), examining their characteristics and their practice locations. Features a county-level map showing pediatric EP density per 100,000 population, and statistics with breakdowns by age, sex, U.S. census division, training specialty area, board certification, and urban, large rural, or small rural location.
Author(s): Christopher L. Bennett, Janice A. Espinola, Ashley F. Sullivan, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(5)
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
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Building Resilience Among Physical and Behavioral Healthcare Providers During a Global Health Pandemic
Toolkit discusses burnout among physical and behavioral healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Provides strategies to build resilience to burnout. Defines a number of root causes to provider burnout, such as compassion fatigue, ambiguous loss, and secondary traumatic stress, among others. Discusses how rural providers, especially sole community providers, can face specific challenges during a pandemic that can lead to burnout.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder, Per Ostmo, Robin Landwehr, Andrew McLean, Thomasine Heitkamp
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
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Last Updated: 3/19/2024