The physician shortage in America, especially in rural communities, is widespread and is only going to get worse. A 2009 policy brief from the federal Office of Rural Health Policy highlighted that 77% of rural counties are facing a major shortage of primary care providers, and 8% don’t have a single primary care physician. An additional [...]
According to a recent survey by the American Hospital Association, the number of rural hospitals with Hospital Medicine coverage is growing. 1 in 6 hospitals with fewer than 25 beds had Hospitalist programs in 2009, double the penetration of six years before. For hospitals with 25-49 beds, nearly 1 in 3 had a hospitalist presence [...]
According to the National Rural Health Association, 25 percent of Americans live in rural areas, but only about 10 percent of physicians choose to practice here. Preventive medicine and health education do not always get the emphasis they should in rural communities and some people operate with the mind-set that a trip to the doctor [...]
Geographic data firm Esri has put together a county-by-county map of which parts of the country have the greatest need for doctors right now. In the map below (click through for an interactive version), the dark blue counties have a very low need for physicians, with fewer than 1,000 people per doctor’s office. The need [...]
Hospital administrators say new legislation could go a long way to helping alleviate physician shortages plaguing Upstate hospitals, especially rural providers. The legislation, introduced last week by Sen. Charles Schumer, is a two-pronged effort that would increase residency slots at New York hospitals and help alleviate medical school loans. Read the article
Recruiting enough physicians to rural communities can seem daunting, to say the least. One out of every five Americans lives in a rural region. Yet, only 11 percent of doctors practice there, according to a 2010 study in the journal Academic Medicine. But the analysis, which looked at physician practice locations in 2005, also identified [...]
Rural doctors enjoy some daily benefits, among them fresher air, low crime rates and the chance to raise children who can count a blanket of stars in the night sky. A paycheck also may stretch further than in urban-based practices, enabling a down payment on one of the area’s most elegant houses and the opportunity [...]
As we redesign the overall health care delivery system from volume to value, the role of rural hospitals needs to be addressed. America is a big country. Every summer vacation with my family, I drive exactly 1,000 miles each way from San Francisco to northern Idaho; I don’t go through another city. If you take [...]
