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Health care is one of the largest industries in the country, employing a vast number of workers. Still, many communities experience health care workforce shortage problems, with the most severe being in rural health professional shortage areas and medically needy and underserved population groups.

Rural health care workforce shortages carry a negative impact on health care quality, through reduced health care access as well as through increased stress on providers. Shortages not only contribute to higher costs by raising compensation levels to reflect increased demand but also by increasing the use of overtime pay and expensive temporary personnel.

Related Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Tools

3RNet Opportunity Search Database
Web site
A searchable database that helps health professionals locate practice sites in rural and underserved areas throughout the country.
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Recruitment & Retention Network

3RNet Rural Recruitment and Retention Location Finder
Web site
Provides a listing of available positions serving rural and underserved areas within each state. Includes a contact person who can assist health professionals and their families identify the resources necessary to meet the personal and professional requirements they seek.
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Recruitment & Retention Network

AHA Issues: Health Care Workforce
Database
Comprised of a Commission on Workforce, which focuses on developments and resources to deal with the present health care workforce shortage.
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association

Community Health Worker Evaluation Tool Kit
Web site
Guide to program evaluation for community health workers and community health worker programs.
Sponsoring organization: University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health

Community Health Workers Toolkit
Web site
Contains eight modules about community health worker programs, how the programs work and how to use community health workers in the local community.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center

Community HealthCorps
Web site
Promotes health care for America's underserved. Works to increase access to health care, provide health education, support use of health care services, and recruit and develop volunteers to support community health centers.
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers

Economic Impact of Family Physicians by State
Web site
Brief reports on the economic impact of family physicians for each state. Reports include state maps of primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Family Physicians

Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
Database
Transmits residency applications, letters of recommendation, Dean's Letters/MSPE, transcripts, and other supporting credentials from applicants and medical schools to Fellowship, Osteopathic Internship and Residency programs using the Internet.
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges

Explore Health Careers.org
Web site
A multi-disciplinary, interactive health careers website designed to explain the array of health professions and provide easy access to students seeking information about health careers.
Sponsoring organization: American Dental Education Association

Farm Rescue and EMS: A State by State Directory
Web site
State-by-state list of farm rescue or response programs, Cooperative Extension Safety Specialists, and State EMS Training Coordinators.
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy

FindAResident
Database
Helps to locate residency and fellowship positions; puts residents in contact with programs looking to fill these positions; supplements the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS); and is a resource when changing specialty, location, or residency program.
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges

FREIDA Online
Database
The Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) contains over 8,700 medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, as well as over 200 combined specialty programs. Allows searching for specialty and subspecialty programs, training institutions, medical schools, aggregate training statistics by specialty, and career plans of recent graduates.
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association

Global Health: Exchange Visitor Program
Web site
Provides information and updates on the Exchange Visitor Program (J-1 Visa Waiver), which eliminates the two-year foreign residence requirement.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Guidelines for Medically Underserved Area and Population Designation
Web site
Supplies guidelines for use in applying the established Criteria for Designation of Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Populations (MUPs). Describes three methods for designation.
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions

Health Care Workforce
Web site
Provides news, education, events, and examples of workforce success stories titled Ideas in Action.
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association

Health Workforce Information Center (HWIC)
Web site
An online library which provides information on health workforce issues. Resources include health workforce programs and funding sources; workforce data, research and policy; educational opportunities and models; and news and events, also available through e-mail updates.
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions

HHS Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Regional Offices
Web site
Ensures the Department maintains close contact with state, local & tribal partners and addresses the needs of communities and individuals served through HHS programs and policies. Provides comprehensive information on the Affordable Care Act. Website provides a map of regions and their points of contact.
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

HWIC: Immigration Topic Page
Web site
Provides a variety of resources, organizations, funding, events and news items on the topic of immigration as it relates to the health workforce shortage.
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions

HWIC: Residency Programs
Web site
Provides a variety of resources on training and education programs that physicians complete after medical school.
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions

Medical Education Futures Study (MEFS)
Web site
Serves as a vehicle of information and data dissemination for the community of students, educators, practitioners, researchers, policy analysts, policy makers and press. Available resources focus on the role of medical education in reducing disparities, increasing access to care in rural and urban areas, and improving the health of U.S. citizens.
Sponsoring organization: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation

Medically Underserved Area/Medically Underserved Population (MUA/MUP) Database
Database
Allows searching by state, county, or ID number. Includes designation status and date.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

Midwest Center for Health Workforce Studies
Web site
Conducts research on the health workforce to improve health workforce policy and planning at the state, Midwest regional and national level, which leads to increased access to care for underserved populations.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

National AHEC Organization - AHEC Directory
Web site
Lists contact information for regional AHECs by state. AHEC's (Area Health Education Centers) work to recruit, train and retain health professionals committed to underserved populations.
Sponsoring organization: National Area Health Education Center Organization

National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
Database
Provides detailed state-by-state data on supply, demand, distribution, education and use of health personnel. Collects, analyzes and disseminates health workforce information and facilitates national, state and local workforce planning efforts. Monitors trends to assure that all segments of society have access to quality health care professionals providing appropriate health care services in all geographic areas.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce
Web site
Provides a national on-line library regarding direct-care staffing in long-term care. Includes government and research reports, news, issue briefs, fact sheets, and other information on topics such as recruitment, career advancement supervision, workplace culture, and caregiving practices.
Sponsoring organization: Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute

National Survey of Long-Term Care Providers
Web site
Beginning in 2012, the National Center for Health Statistics will launch the new National Survey of Long-Term Care Providers (NSLTCP). NSLTCP will replace the previously conducted The National Nursing Home Survey, The National Home and Hospice Care Survey, and most recently, The National Survey of Residential Care Facilities.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

NHSC Job Opportunities
Database
Listing of health professional job opportunities available serving underserved populations. Job listings are not exclusive to NHSC Scholars and those interested in the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.
Sponsoring organization: National Health Service Corps

Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce
Web site
Information and resources to help the public health workforce find and use information effectively. Includes funding sources, data and statistics, career resources and more. Provided by a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries.

Physician Perspectives on Rural Medicine
Web site
Provides access to video and audio recordings of a presentation given at the 2009 Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) Symposium.
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine

Primary Care Association (PCA) Web Sites
Web site
Links to each state's Primary Care Association (PCA). PCAs work to promote, expand, and optimize access to primary care in each state.
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Primary Health Care

Rural FP Community
Web site
Information and resources for family physicians, health care providers and others who serve the nation's rural families.
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Family Physicians

Rural Health Research: Workforce
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of health care workforce, produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway

Rural Hospital Education Gateway
Web site
A one-stop shop for rural hospitals to access distance and web-based educational resources on topics including community engagement, hospital finance, management and leadership, performance improvement, workforce and quality.
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center

Rural Training Track Technical Assistance Program (RTT-TA)
Technical assistance
A demonstration program that seeks to improve fill rates of rural training track (RTT) family medicine residency programs, increase the sustainability of existing RTT programs, and help new RTT programs get started.
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy

SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions
Web site
Promotes the development of integrated primary and behavioral health services to better address the needs of individuals with mental health and substance use conditions, whether seen in specialty behavioral health or primary care provider settings.
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Shortage Designation: HPSAs, MUAs & MUPs
Web site
Provides information about health care shortage designations: Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUAs/MUPs). Includes information on how to apply for these designations and how to find shortage areas.
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration

State Licensure for International Dentists
Web site
Provides information to dentists who were educated outside the United States and Canada and wish to obtain a state dental license in the U.S.
Sponsoring organization: American Dental Association

Study Guide Zone
Web site
Free resources for students, beginning professionals, and anyone who wants to improve their score on a standardized test. Includes GED, ACT and SAT test study guides.

Train Rural
Web site
Provides medical students with information on rural training track residencies. Describes medical school rotations, residency experiences, rural life and practice, financial support and incentive programs, and offers chances to interact with residents, faculty and other students.
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association

United States Atlas of the Surgical Workforce
Web site
Provides a picture of the supply and geographic distribution of institutions and individuals providing surgical services to help practitioners, policy makers and patients anticipate the current and future distribution and identify places with limited access to surgical services.
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute

Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers: Eastern Region
Web site
Maintains three locations in Gainesville, FL; Togus, ME; and White River Junction, VT and focuses on developing models to deliver specialty care and services to rural areas, and educating and training VA’s next generation of rural health care providers.
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health

WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies Regional Information Center
Web site
Provides access to health workforce information for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho. Content is available by state and by profession.
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies

Funding

2012-2013 Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship
A yearlong intensive learning experience dedicated to preparing the next generation of health care leaders.

3RNet Recruitment and Retention Assistance
Helps health professionals find jobs in rural and underserved areas.

Area Health Education Centers Infrastructure Development
Funding for cooperative agreements to establish and advance statewide or multi-county AHEC programs.

Hoosier Rural Preceptorship
A summer experience for students who are enrolled in medical school in the United States during the summer between their first and second year of medical school.

Idaho Rural Physicians Incentive Program
Program to encourage primary care physicians to practice in medically underserved areas of Idaho.

Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program for Repayment of Health Professions Educational Loans
Loan repayment program for health professions educational loans (undergraduate and graduate) in return for full-time clinical service in Indian health programs.

Northwest Rural Nurse Residency Program
Funding to provide rural nurses in Idaho and the Intermountain Region with a rural generalist residency.

Nurse I Am Scholarship
Scholarships to nursing students.

Regional Community Health Grants Program
This program provides funding focused on reducing disparities in health care among racial and ethnic populations in eligible geographic areas.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program
Funding to develop the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing through career development awards for outstanding junior nursing faculty.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Unsolicited Proposals
Grants to address health care workforce, innovative health care solutions, and health care to vulnerable populations.

Wal-Mart National Giving Program
Funding to support the replication of a particularly innovative local or regional initiative at other sites around the country.

Wal-Mart State Giving Program
The Wal-Mart Foundation has adopted four areas of focus: Education, Workforce Development / Economic Opportunity, Health and Wellness, and Environmental Sustainability.

Wal-Mart Store and Sam's Club Giving Programs
Funding to local nonprofit organizations in four main areas of focus: Education, Workforce Development / Economic Opportunity, Health & Wellness and Environmental Sustainability.

William Randolph Hearst Foundations Health Grants
Supports well-established nonprofit organizations that address important issues within their major areas of interests – education, health, culture, and social service – and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies.

Inactive Funding

Inactive Funding Opportunities - Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.

Maps & Map Collections

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) - Primary Health, Clinician Priority Scores
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the clinician priority scores of primary health care HPSAs nationwide. Scores are used by the National Health Service Corps in determining priorities for assignment of clinicians. Scores range from 1 to 25, with higher scores having greater priority. Data source: Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, October 2011.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Date: 2011

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) - Primary Health, Designated Populations
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows nationwide the location and type of population that is underserved and designated as a primary health care HPSA. Data source: Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, October 2011.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Date: 2011

Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) - Primary Health, Designated Type
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the designated types of primary health care HPSAs nationwide by: Geographic Service Area, Population Group and Single County. Data source: Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, October 2011.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Date: 2011

Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs), Designated Type
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Printable map that shows the designated type of MUAs and MUPs nationwide by state. Data source: Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, October 2011.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Date: 2011

Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents

2005 Physician Supply and Distribution in Rural Areas of the United States (full report)
Author(s): Meredith A. Fordyce, Frederick M. Chen, Mark P. Doescher, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the 2005 supply and distribution of physicians with particular emphasis on generalists in rural areas.
Date: 11 / 2007

2009 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to rural America. Examines three key topics: workforce and community development, creating viable patient-centered medical homes, and serving at-risk children.
Date: 04 / 2009

2009 State Physician Workforce Data Book
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Examines the active physician supply in each state, current medical school enrollment, physicians in graduate medical education programs, and in-state retention rates. Includes data charts and tables for all 50 states, in addition to national averages.
Date: 11 / 2009

2010 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to rural America. Topics for this year include: home and community based care for rural seniors, rural primary care workforce, and rural health care provider integration.
Date: 05 / 2010

2011 State Physician Workforce Data Release
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Presents an update of Figures and Tables 1 and 2 of the 2009 State Physician Workforce Data Book. A fully updated 2011 book will be released in late fall 2011.
Date: 03 / 2011

2012 WICHE Workplan: It's All About Outcomes
Sponsoring organization: Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Discusses WICHE's focus in 2012 which includes finance, access and success, workforce and society, technology and innovation, and accountability. Highlights students exchange programs in rural and underserved areas, rural healthcare initiatives, and rural primary care clinics.
Date: 09 / 2011

Academic Health Centers and Community Health Centers: The Landscape of Current Partnerships
Author(s): Ryan D. Brutger
Sponsoring organization: Association of Academic Health Centers
Provides a broad profile of academic and community health center partnerships throughout the United States.
Date: 2010

Access Transformed: Building a Primary Care Workforce for the 21st Century
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Finds the availability of a primary care workforce depends on where you live, and primary care clinicians are not locating in areas that need them most, especially low-income communities. Includes state-level projections of growing patient needs expected to stretch the health care system in years ahead.
Date: 08 / 2008

Action Plan for Behavioral Health Workforce Development
Author(s): Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Describes a broad, national workforce development plan for the behavioral health workforce. Covers workforce issues relevant to persons with mental health conditions, substance abuse or substance use disorders, and co-occurring mental and addictive conditions. Includes a chapter focused on rural behavioral health workforce issues.
Date: 2007

Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care: A Targeted Action Plan for Academic Medical Centers
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Report focuses on how academic health centers in the United States should commit to the goal of eliminating racial disparities in health care as part of their mission to preparing future generations of physicians to provide the highest quality care for the U.S. population including rural.
Date: 2009

Addressing the Primary Care Crisis
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Information Center
Provides a Q&A with Dr. John Geyman, author of "Breaking Point - How the Primary Care Crisis Endangers the Lives of Americans." Focuses on the shortage and maldistribution of primary care providers, attempts to address these issues through policy changes and education, and barriers to implementing changes.
Journal citation: Health Workforce News
Date: 10 / 2011

Adequacy of Pharmacist Supply: 2004 to 2030
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Examines the current and projected future adequacy of pharmacist supply in the United States, and the future balance between supply and demand, by using HRSA's Bureau of Health Professions Pharmacist Supply and Requirements Model (PhSRM). Reflects findings from a literature review, original empirical analysis, and discussions with representatives from pharmaceutical associations and subject matter experts to develop supply and demand scenarios.
Date: 12 / 2008

Advancing Health in Rural America: Maximizing Nursing’s Impact
Author(s): Mary S. Gorski
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
Provides a link between the evidence-based nursing solutions in the IOM Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report and the health care challenges facing rural America. Outlines the challenges of providing access to quality, affordable care in rural areas, followed by examples of initial progress in additional support to key programs.
Date: 06 / 2011

Aging of the Primary Care Physician Workforce: Are Rural Locations Vulnerable? (Policy Brief)
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the rural areas of the U.S. where impending retirement threatens access to primary care, and offers potential solutions to the problem.
Date: 06 / 2009

Aging Surgeon Population
Author(s): Elizabeth Walker, Stephanie Poley, Thomas Ricketts
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
Highlights the demographic characteristics of the surgical workforce. This fact sheet presents trends by surgical specialty, regions, and rural-urban county status.
Date: 05 / 2010

Allied Health Job Vacancy Tracking Report
Author(s): Meredith Kimball, Erin Fraher, Katie Gaul, Jessica Lyons
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Quantifies workforce demand for selected allied health professions in North Carolina, tracks job vacancy advertisements in print and online sources, summarizes vacancy advertisements by profession, region, and employer type, and describes the types of sign-on bonuses offered by employers.
Date: 05 / 2011

Allied Health Workforce and Services: Workshop Summary
Author(s): Steve Olson
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Highlights of a workshop held on May 9-10, 2011. Examines the current allied health care workforce and considers how it can contribute to improving health care access, quality, and effectiveness. Chapter six discusses rural education and training.
Date: 12 / 2011

Challenges for Improving Health Care Access in Rural America: A Compendium of Research and Policy Analysis Studies of Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Centers 2009-2010
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Released in July 2010, the compendium is a collection of twenty-four research and policy analysis studies on health care access in rural America from the Office of Rural Health Policy Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Centers.
Date: 2010

Changes in the Rural Registered Nurse Workforce from 1980 to 2004 (Final Report)
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, Lorella Palazzo, L. Gary Hart, Patricia Butterfield
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes changes in rural and urban Registered Nurse demographics, education, and employment characteristics over time.
Date: 10 / 2007

Clinical Recruitment and Retention Toolkit
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Toolkit was developed to assist Community Health Centers to: support the existing clinical workforce, and attain, groom, and retain compassionate healers who provide excellent clinical care and feel professionally at home in a Community Health Center.
Date: 2010

Closing the Health Care Workforce Gap: Reforming Federal Health Care Workforce Policies to Meet the Needs of the 21st Century
Author(s): Daniel J. Derksen, Ellen-Marie Whelan
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Discusses how the nation can take steps in reforming the U.S. health care system to cover the uninsured, improve the quality of health care, cut overall costs and secure an adequate health care workforce.
Date: 12 / 2009

COGME Twentieth Report: Advancing Primary Care
Author(s): Jerry Kruse, Mark Kelley, Tom Keane, et al.
Sponsoring organization: Council on Graduate Medical Education
Makes recommendations related to the ideal number of primary care physicians, primary care physician reimbursement, as well as their education and distribution. Addresses rural and underserved areas, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and Community Health Centers (CHCs).
Date: 12 / 2010

Community Health Aide Program: Overview 2007
Provides a detailed overview of Community Health Aide Program (CHAP) including the history, current practice, training, field supervision, and quality assurance of this unique program that facilitates health care services in Alaska's remote villages.
Date: 03 / 2007

Community Health Centers and the Economy: Assessing Centers’ Role in Immediate Job Creation Efforts
Author(s): Sara Rosenbaum, Peter Shin
Sponsoring organization: George Washington University Department of Health Policy
Examines the potential economic benefit, including job creation opportunities, resulting from investments in community health centers.
Date: 09 / 2011

Community Health Worker National Workforce Study
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Describes a comprehensive national study of the community health worker workforce and of the factors that affected its utilization and development in both urban and rural settings.
Date: 03 / 2007

Compendium of Best Practices/Models - Innovations to Strengthen Rural Health Care: Rural Technology, Training, and Workforce Development
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Document Developed by NRHA's National Rural Task Force. Highlights workforce programs in California, Mississippi, and New Mexico.
Date: 09 / 2010

Compendium of Best Practices/Models That Work in Rural Workforce Development
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Developed by NRHA's National Rural Task Force. Highlights rural workforce programs in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
Date: 09 / 2008

Country Doctor
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
Journal issue focused on rural physicians. First half examines patient-physician relationship dilemmas encountered in rural medicine and second half discusses policy initiatives undertaken on national and state levels, and new strategies in medical education, to increase rural physician workforce.
Journal citation: Virtual Mentor
Date: 05 / 2011

Crisis in Rural General Surgery
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes issues rural general surgeons face and why maintaining their supply is important in meeting the needs of the aging rural population.
Date: 04 / 2009

Crisis in Rural Primary Care
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes issues facing primary health care in rural America including: a declining number of students choosing this career path, low compensation rates, rising malpractice premiums, professional isolation, limited time off, and the scarcity of jobs for spouses.
Date: 04 / 2009

Data-Driven Examination of the Impact of Associate and Bachelor’s Degree Programs on the Nation’s Nursing Workforce
Author(s): Roxanne Fulcher, Christopher M. Mullin
Sponsoring organization: American Association of Community Colleges
Restates data that support the value of RN education and emphasizes the strengths that the current educational pathways to nursing contribute as the nation implements health-care reform to address the demands of an increasingly diverse and aged population.
Date: 03 / 2011

Designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) Statistics
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Health Professions
Charts the number of primary, dental, and mental health professional shortage areas (HPSA) for each state and how many health care providers would be required to remove the shortage designation. Includes the percentage of designations located in rural vs. urban areas.
Date: 07 / 2011

Economic Impact of a Rural General Surgeon and Model for Forecasting Need
Author(s): Fred Eilrich, Jonathan Sprague, Brian Whitacre, Lara Brooks, Gerald Doeksen, Cheryl St. Clair
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Rural Health Works
Identifies the economic benefits of a general surgeon and offers a methodology to estimate the need for a rural general surgeon.
Date: 09 / 2010

EMS Workforce for the 21st Century: A National Assessment
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Emergency Medical Services Division
Results of research that address workforce planning such as having adequate EMS workforce, attracting and retaining EMS workers, maintaining EMS workforce resources across all populations and geo-graphic areas, future demand, and obtaining information.
Date: 06 / 2008

Ethical Life of Rural Health Care Professionals
Author(s): Ruth B. Purtilo
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
Third chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics," examines questions regarding the significance of morality and ethics to rural health care professionals, how they are useful, and how professionals can balance contradicting values, then presents suggestions for nurturing these values.
Date: 2009

Examination of the Healthcare Workforce Issues in Rural America
Author(s): Mary Wakefield, Patricia Moulton, Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Eighth Annual Report to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Congress regarding workforce issues in rural America: enhancing health care for rural populations through interdisciplinary training and quality improvement; and rural health workforce status.
Date: 09 / 2008

Family Medicine Residency Training in Rural Locations (Final Report)
Author(s): Frederick M. Chen, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Mark P. Doescher, Carl Morris
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural physician supply has remained relatively stable over the past decade, but its future is threatened by reduced medical student interest in family medicine careers and a declining residency match rate.
Date: 07 / 2010

Federal and State Initiatives to Recruit Physicians to Rural Areas
Author(s): Daniel G. Mareck
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
Describes rural physician recruitment and retention challenges and the initiatives in place to help address them.
Journal citation: Virtual Mentor
Date: 05 / 2011

First Biennial Report on Health Issues for the State of North Dakota
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Describes the advisory council's recommendations regarding the strategic plan, programs, and facilities of the school of medicine and health sciences. Proposes a four‐pronged approach to ensure effective, efficient, timely, and affordable healthcare for all North Dakotans.
Date: 2011

From Education to Regulation: Dynamic Challenges for the Health Workforce
Author(s): Denise Holmes
Sponsoring organization: Association of Academic Health Centers
A set of papers that clarify some of the issues related to producing and retaining a 21st century health workforce including the unresolved challenges of workforce regulations, professional and educational standards, workplace practices, and offers possible responses.
Date: 2008

Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Rural Primary Care Physician Supply (Final Report)
Author(s): Roger A. Rosenblatt, Frederick M. Chen, Denise M. Lishner, Mark P. Doescher
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Examines the rural physician shortage, the effect of recent trends in specialty choice on provider supply, and major trends that are changing the dynamics that shape the delivery of health care.
Date: 08 / 2010

Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Discusses transforming the nursing profession to meet the need for improving health care system. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss rural nursing practices and education.
Date: 2011

Graduate Medical Education for Rural Practice (Position Paper)
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Describes how rural training tracks (RTT's) and other programs have contributed to residency education that prepares physicians to practice in rural environments. Lists recommendations to further address workforce shortage problems in rural health care.
Date: 07 / 2008

Growth and Change in the Physician Assistant Workforce in the United States, 1967-2000
Author(s): Larson, E. H., Hart, L. G.
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes key elements of change in the demography and distribution of the PA population between 1967 and 2000, as well as the spread of PA training programs.
Date: 2007

Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics: A Practical Guide for Professionals
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
Analyzes, solves, and anticipates health care ethics dilemmas to provide general ethics information and related guidance for clinicians and administrators of rural health care facilities.
Date: 2009

Health Care Challenges Abundant in the Alaskan Frontier
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses health care workforce shortages in Alaska’s Wrangell and Petersburg frontier communities. Highlights Alaska’s Community Health Aide Program (CHAP), which serves the state’s Native population, using more than 550 Community Health Aides/Practitioners, employed by 27 tribal health organizations, who practice in more than 180 rural villages in the state’s most remote areas known as the bush.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08 / 2007

Health Care Reform and the Health Workforce: Workforce Provisions Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Summarizes health workforce-related provisions of the new health reform legislation, including those pertaining to rural and underserved areas.
Date: 04 / 2010

Health Care Reform, What’s in It?: Rural Communities and Rural Medical Care
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Summarizes access-related provisions in the Affordable Care Act directly targeted to rural communities, rural medical care and the expansion of the health care workforce.
Date: 07 / 2010

Health Care Shortage Designations: HPSA, MUA, and TBD
Author(s): Eileen Salinsky
Sponsoring organization: National Health Policy Forum
Reviews the methodologies utilized in the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and the Medically Underserved Area (MUA) designations, identifies federal programs that use these designations to allocate resources, describes proposals to consolidate and improve these designations, and discusses the Affordable Care Act provision to harmonize the two designations.
Date: 06 / 2010

Health Professions Programs: Educating and Training Health Professionals to Serve All Communities, FY 2010 Brochure
Sponsoring organization: Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition
Discusses Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act which are health professions programs that support the training and education of health care providers with the aim of enhancing the supply, diversity, and distribution of the workforce, filling the gaps in the health professions' supply.
Date: 2009

Health Professions Programs: Investing in tomorrow’s workforce - Improving health
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
An overview of the Title VII and Title VIII health professions federal programs designed to train providers in interdisciplinary settings to meet the needs of special and underserved populations, as well as increase minority representation in the health care workforce.
Date: 2010

High Cost of Student Debt
Author(s): Alex McEllistrem-Evenson
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Information Center
Provides a brief overview of the impact of student debt load on primary care workforce.
Journal citation: Health Workforce News
Date: 09 / 2009

How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?: A Comprehensive Evidence Review
Author(s): M. Renee Zerehi
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
An overview of current trends in the primary care physician workforce, the importance and value of primary care, and the growing demand for primary care services in the United States. Includes references to rural.
Date: 2008

Idaho Rural Family Physician Workforce Study: Examining the Trait of Grit and Satisfaction in Idaho Physicians
Author(s): Alex J. Reed, David Schmitz, Ed Baker, Ayaka Nukui, Jaime Sand, Hailey Wilson, Ted Epperly
Sponsoring organization: Idaho State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Phase three of a series of studies to assess both rural and non-rural primary care and specialty care physician’s self reported levels of perseverance, passion and satisfaction in current practice in Idaho.
Date: 07 / 2009

Idaho Rural Family Physician Workforce Study: The Community Apgar Questionnaire
Author(s): David Schmitz, Ed Baker, Ted Epperly, Alex Reed, Ayaka Nukui
Sponsoring organization: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
Identifies community factors that help rural communities recruit and retain family physicians.
Date: 07 / 2008

Impact of Health Care Reform on the Future Supply and Demand for Physicians Updated Projections Through 2025
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Presents physician supply and demand projections under a variety of scenarios for the US through 2025.
Date: 06 / 2010

Increasing Access to Health Workers in Remote and Rural Areas through Improved Retention: Global Policy Recommendations
Sponsoring organization: World Health Organization
Offers comprehensive strategies to help countries encourage health care workers to work in rural and remote areas. Provides principles to help guide national policies, evidence-based recommendations, and evaluation measures. Identifies research gaps.
Date: 2010

Informing Rural Primary Care Workforce Policy: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?: A Review of Rural Health Research Center Literature, 2000-2010
Author(s): Alex McEllistrem-Evenson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
Profiles 51 publications constituting the body of evidence-based research produced by the federally-funded Rural Health Research Centers from 2000 to 2010 which are relevant to the rural primary care workforce.
Date: 04 / 2011

Investigation of the Developmental Course of Burnout Among Rural Clinicians
Author(s): Monika E. Kos, Thomas J. DeStafano
Discusses rural mental health clinician burnout - a significant concern for clinicians as well as mental health organizations.
Journal citation: Journal of Rural Community Psychology Volume E14 Issue 1
Date: 2011

Landscape View of Life and Health Care in Rural Settings
Author(s): Angeline Bushy
Sponsoring organization: Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College
Second chapter of "Handbook for Rural Health Care Ethics", addresses factors such as: geographic isolation, small population, and close social and/or kinship relationships among community members, that can cause or impact ethical dilemmas.
Date: 2009

Linking Workforce Policy to Health Care Reform
Author(s): David C. Goodman
Transcript of the invited testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Finance about the health workforce and its relationship to health care reform as presented by David C. Goodman.
Date: 03 / 2009

Longitudinal Trends in the U.S. Surgical Workforce 1981-2006: Overall Growth Has Stalled; General Surgery Supply Contracting
Author(s): Stephanie Poley, Daniel Belsky, Katie Gaul, Thomas Ricketts, Erin Fraher, George Sheldon
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
Discusses U.S. surgical workforce trends over the last 25 years and the problem of geographic distribution of surgeons in future years.
Date: 05 / 2009

Look What's Coming: A Proposal for Medical School Reform
Author(s): Wayne Meyers
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Describes the decline of graduating primary care physicians, the role medical schools play in this phenomenon, and offers model solutions.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Issue Winter
Date: 02 / 2009

Mapping the Supply of Surgeons in the United States, 2009
Author(s): Katie Gaul, Stephanie T. Poley, Thomas C. Ricketts, Elizabeth Walker, Jennifer Groves
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
Collection of national, regional, and state-level maps of the total and general surgeon workforce relative to population density. Includes the ratio of providers to population at the county-level for the purpose of assessing the geographic distribution of surgeons in the United States.
Date: 04 / 2010

Matter of Degrees: Tomorrow’s Fastest - Growing Jobs and Why Community College Graduates Will Get Them
Author(s): Jessica Milano, Bruce Reed, Paul Weinstein Jr.
Examines hot jobs in four of the fastest growing sectors of the economy: education, health care, information technology, and energy and environment.
Date: 09 / 2009

Medical School Programs to Increase the Rural Physician Supply: A Systematic Review and Projected Impact of Widespread Replication
Author(s): Howard K. Rabinowitz, James J. Diamond, Fred W. Markham
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
Study which examined rural physician training efforts. Six medical school programs designed to increase the ranks of rural physicians could be nationally replicated to more than double the number of graduates who choose to practice in rural areas across the next decade.
Journal citation: Academic Medicine Volume 83 Issue 3 Pages: 235-243
Date: 03 / 2008

National Rural Health Information Technology Workforce Summit Summary
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
Compiled from the Summit held in Washington, D.C. on September 22, 2009. The topics for the recommendations include: Data Development, Workforce Resources, and Policy.
Date: 09 / 2009

National View of Rural Health Workforce Issues in the USA
Author(s): MacDowell M., Glasser M., Fitts M., Nielsen K., Hunsaker M.
Australian study explores workforce shortage issues in rural America, including factors that influence recruitment and retention. Poses policy and program interventions.
Date: 07 / 2010

Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on the Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas: Final Report to the Secretary
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Contains recommendations and documentation of the Negotiated Rulemaking (NRM) Committee to influence methodologies used to determine medically underserved populations (MUPs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).
Date: 10 / 2011

Nurse Practitioner Facts
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Provides statistics and data about nurse practitioners, including distribution, years of practice, and age by specialty.
Date: 2007

Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care
Author(s): Jack Ginsburg, Tia Taylor, Michael S. Barr
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
Presents positions of the American College of Physicians regarding the common goals of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians to provide high-quality, patient-centered care and to improve the health status of rural and urban residents.
Date: 2009

Nurse Staffing and Rural Hospital Performance (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Gestur Davidson, Kathy Belk, Ira Moscovice
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Examines the impact of nurse staffing on rural hospital performance improvement in the CMS/Premier Inc. Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration project.
Date: 12 / 2010

Nursing Workforce Challenge: Public Policy for a Dynamic and Complex Market
Author(s): Randall R. Bovbjerg, Barbara A. Ormond, Nancy Pindus
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
Reviews major policy issues related to the nursing workforce, drawing upon prior Urban Institute work, new literature review, assessment of federal survey data, and key informant interviews.
Date: 08 / 2009

Nursing Workforce: HHS Needs Methodology to Identify Facilities with a Critical Shortage of Nurses
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
GAO reports on changes in the 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.
Date: 04 / 2007

Nursing's Reversal of Fortune
Author(s): Michael Gibbons
Describes how rural hospitals can recruit more nurses.
Date: 10 / 2009

Office of Rural Health Policy Rural Guide to Federal Health Professions Funding
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Provides a road map to the various Federal health professions programs with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designed to support the training and placement of health care providers in underserved communities.
Date: 01 / 2011

Out of Order, Out of Time: The State of the Nation’s Health Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Association of Academic Health Centers
Focuses attention on the critical need for a new, collaborative, coordinated, national health workforce planning initiative. Presents findings, conclusions, recommendations and includes references to rural.
Date: 2008

Outcomes of Community Health Worker Interventions
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Results of a systematic review on the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) and CHW interventions, outcomes of such interventions, costs and cost-effectiveness of CHW interventions, and characteristics of CHW training. Includes references to rural.
Date: 06 / 2009

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Government Printing Office
Includes the entire text of the 2010 health care reform law - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Date: 01 / 2010

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Positive Steps for Rural
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Examines the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the subsequent Reconciliation Package that contains building blocks to improve the access to health care crisis faced by rural patients. Improvements include provisions to help resolve the workforce shortage crisis in rural areas and to eliminate long-standing payment inequities for rural providers.
Date: 04 / 2010

Pediatric Surgeons: Subspecialists Increase Faster than Generalists
Author(s): Stephanie Poley, Thomas Ricketts, Daniel Belsky, Katie Gaul
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute
A fact sheet discussing the expansion of the pediatric surgical workforce with an increase in the number of subspecialists whereas growth in the general pediatric workforce has remained flat. Urban and rural data are compared.
Date: 07 / 2009

Persistent Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Health Care Access in Rural America (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Mark P. Doescher, Meredith A. Fordyce, Susan M. Skillman, J. Elizabeth Jackson, Roger A. Rosenblatt
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports that resources are needed to increase and sustain the number of primary care providers and reduce financial barriers to care in all rural primary care HPSAs.
Date: 09 / 2009

Physician Assistant and Advance Practice Nurse Care in Hospital Outpatient Departments: United States, 2008–2009
Author(s): Esther Hing, Sayeedha Uddin
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
Examines characteristics and utilization of physician assistants (PAs) and advance practice nurses (APNs) in hospitals. Shows that visits to PAs and APNs are higher in rural areas.
Date: 11 / 2011

Physician Shortage and Distribution
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
Brief overview of the physician shortage issues faced by rural hospitals. Includes information on current public policy, and resources for hospitals.

Primary Care Professionals: Recent Supply Trends, Projections, and Valuation of Services
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Focuses on recent supply trends for primary care professionals, including information on training and demographic characteristics; projections of future supply for primary care professionals; and the influence of the health care system's financing mechanisms on the valuation of primary care services.
Date: 02 / 2008

Project Talent: Nursing
Author(s): Ronald Cossman, Jeralynn Cossman, Philip Mason, Katherine Harney
Sponsoring organization: Mississippi Area Health Education Center
Quantifies the role that affinity for community and desired work specialization play in the migration decision of nursing students and reveals whether those raised in rural towns would like to return to rural communities.
Date: 2011

Public Health, Workforce, Quality, and Related Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
Author(s): Erin D. Williams, C. Stephen Redhead
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
One in a series of CRS products on PPACA (as amended by HCERA), summarizes the new law’s workforce, public health, quality, and related provisions. Covers provision implications on rural and underserved areas.
Date: 06 / 2010

Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: How the Affordable Care Act Will Strengthen Primary Care and Benefit Patients, Providers, and Payers
Author(s): Melinda Abrams, Rachel Nuzum, Stephanie Mika, Georgette Lawlor
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Describes how the Affordable Care Act will begin to address the neglect of America’s primary care system and, wherever possible, estimates the potential impact these efforts will have on patients, providers, and payers.
Date: 01 / 2011

Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 1: Physicians
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Overview of issues related to the recruitment and retention of physicians in rural areas. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 11 / 2006

Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 3: Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Discusses the challenges of recruiting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to work in rural areas. Describes successful recruitment programs in Minnesota and West Virginia. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 05 / 2005

Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas, Number 4: Oral Health
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Presents an overview of issues related to the oral health workforce in rural areas. Part of a series of issue papers addressing rural health care workforce development through career pipeline programs.
Date: 11 / 2006

Registered Nurse Population: Findings From the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Reports that the number of licensed registered nurses (RNs) in the United States grew to a new high of 3.1 million between 2004 and 2008.
Date: 09 / 2010

Registered Nurse Population: Initial Findings from the 2008 National Sample of Survey of Registered Nurses
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Report provides initial findings from a survey illustrating the growth in the number of licensed registered nurses (RNs)- 3.1 million - in the United States between 2004 and 2008.
Date: 03 / 2010

Remarks to The Healthcare Workforce Crisis: A Summit on the Future of Primary Care in Rural and Urban America
Author(s): Mary K. Wakefield
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
This is the speech transcript in which HRSA's administrator, Mary K. Wakefield, discusses the healthcare workforce crisis in rural and urban America.
Date: 08 / 2009

Retaining Rural Nurses: Midwestern Summit on Retaining and Making Best use of the Older More Experienced Rural Registered Nurse
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
Highlights of a one-day session, consisting of 25 nurse-leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota who engaged in a series of roundtable discussions on the future of older nurses in rural communities.
Date: 08 / 2007

Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Results of a study to determine the health care needs of Americans over 65 years of age and to assess those needs through an analysis of the forces that shape the health care workforce, including education and training, models of care, and public and private programs. Executive summary is available as a PDF.
Date: 04 / 2008

Review & Commentary on Health Policy Issues for a Rural Perspective-February, 2009
Sponsoring organization: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
Discusses healthcare workforce shortage issues affecting primary care in rural Wisconsin. Features interviews from rural health care advocates and presents strategies to address and reverse the shortage problem.
Date: 02 / 2009

Role of Community Colleges in Meeting the Nation's Health Workforce Needs
Author(s): Roxanne Fulcher
Sponsoring organization: Health Workforce Information Center
An interview with Roxanne Fulcher, Director of Health Professions Policy and the Health Professions Education Center at the American Association of Community Colleges. Addresses the role of community colleges in relation to the rural health care workforce and the Healthcare Virtual Career Platform.
Date: 09 / 2011

Rural Health Care Workforce: Opportunities to Improve Care Delivery
Author(s): Melissa Loftis Florell
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Part of a series on health care reform that focuses on rural health care workforce.
Date: 08 / 2009

Rural Health Workforce Issues: Challenges and Opportunities National Rural Task Force, 2010 Meeting Summary
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Summarizes the discussion and outcomes of the NRHA National Rural Task Force meeting titled: Rural Health Workforce Issues: Challenges and Opportunities.
Date: 07 / 2010

Rural Implications of Key Primary Care Provisions In the Affordable Care Act
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Highlights specific ACA provisions and provides recommendations for program and policy changes that would help HHS address concerns in rural communities.
Date: 09 / 2011

Rural-Urban Comparison of Allied Health Average Hourly Wages
Author(s): Indira Richardson, Rebecca Slifkin, Randy Randolph, Mark Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Explores the hourly wage differences of allied health care professionals in rural and urban areas. Discusses whether a wage deviation contributes to the health care workforce shortage issues found in rural areas.
Date: 01 / 2009

Satisfaction with Practice and Decision to Relocate: An Examination of Rural Physicians
Author(s): Marc Berk, Jack Feldman, Claudia Schur, Jyoti Gupta
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Examines physician satisfaction with various aspects of practice and its association with decisions to continue or discontinue practicing in a rural location.
Date: 05 / 2009

Serving Those Who Have Served: Educational Needs of Health Care Providers Working with Military Members, Veterans, and their Families
Author(s): Dean G. Kilpatrick, Connie L. Best, Daniel W. Smith, Harold Kudler, Vickey Cornelison-Grant
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
Discusses findings from a survey of rural and urban mental health and primary care providers, which explored providers' experience with and knowledge of the VA and Armed Forces personnel.
Date: 12 / 2011

Solutions to the Challenges Facing Primary Care Medicine: Comprehensive Strategies From the American College of Physicians
Author(s): M. Renee Zerehi
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
Offers a comprehensive set of recommendations to address the challenges facing primary care with references to rural.
Date: 2009

South Dakota 2011 Healthcare Workforce Report
Sponsoring organization: South Dakota Department of Health
Profiles the healthcare workforce projected needs in the future and workforce distribution by geography, age, and profession.
Date: 09 / 2011

Specialty and Geographic Distribution of the Physician Workforce: What Influences Medical Student & Resident Choices?
Sponsoring organization: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
This study discusses important policy options and incentives by identifying factors that influence medical student and resident choices about medical specialties and location of practice. Includes several references to rural practice.
Date: 03 / 2009

Strengthening the Direct Service Workforce in Rural Areas
Author(s): D. Kip Brown
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Contains a summary of the challenges of the direct service workforce in rural areas and strategies that rural stakeholders can use to provide high-quality long-term care services and supports.
Date: 08 / 2011

Tapping the Potential of the Health Care Workforce: Scope-of-Practice and Payment Policies for Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants
Author(s): Robert Cunningham
Sponsoring organization: National Health Policy Forum
Provides an overview of the role of advanced practice nurses and physician assistants and reviews the primary features of the training and credentialing of these health professions.
Date: 07 / 2010

Threats to the Future Supply of Rural Registered Nurses
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Explains how the shortages of registered nurses (RNs) in rural areas may grow as the “baby boom” generation retires and as RNs commute to larger towns and urban areas for work. Presents potential solutions to this foreseen shortage problem.
Date: 04 / 2009

Training for a Rural Surgical Career: The Reflections of Two Gundersen Lutheran Graduates
Author(s): Karen Stein
Describes a Wisconsin residency program that works to prepare medical graduates for rural general surgery practice. Explores training factors that may influence the workforce shortage issues.
Date: 08 / 2010

Training Physicians for Rural Practice: Capitalizing on Local Expertise to Strengthen Rural Primary Care
Author(s): Davis G. Patterson, Randall Longenecker, David Schmitz, Susan M. Skillman, Mark P. Doescher
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports that medical residents who train in rural settings are more likely to practice in a rural area. Rural Training Track (RTT) programs play an important role in increasing rural practice placements, thus reducing primary care shortages. Describes the new Rural Training Track Technical Assistance (RTT-TA) program.
Date: 01 / 2011

Trends in the Supply of Dentists in North Carolina, 1996-2005
Author(s): Erin Fraher, Katie Gaul, Jennifer King, Hazel Hadley, Claire de la Varre, Thomas C. Ricketts
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Highlights workforce supply, distribution, professional shortage areas, demographics, and practice characteristics and training.
Date: 02 / 2007

U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates from 1988-1997 (Final Report)
Author(s): Frederick M. Chen, Meredith A. Fordyce, Steve Andes, L. Gary Hart
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Describes the training of the rural physician workforce in the United States and examines the variations in medical school and residency production of rural physicians.
Date: 10 / 2008

U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates from 1988-1997 (Policy Brief)
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports on the rural physician workforce. Those most likely to practice in rural areas were osteopathic and primary care physicians.
Date: 10 / 2008

Utilizing Quality Clinical Supervision as a Workforce Retention Strategy in Rural Community Mental Health
Author(s): Daniel R. Mitchell, Thomas J. Destefano, Lori Martinez, Thomas Potter
Sponsoring organization: Marshall University
Discusses how rural community mental agencies are vulnerable to increased turnover rates for mental health care professionals. Identifies challenges that face community mental health staff that can be addressed using clinical supervision to alleviate weary clinicians and promote accountability and best-practices.
Date: 06 / 2010

War Has Big Impact in Rural Areas
Author(s): Candi Helseth
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Describes the challenges rural health care facilities experience when their health care providers are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 2007

Who Will Provide Primary Care and How Will They Be Trained?
Author(s): Cronenwett L., Dzau V.
Sponsoring organization: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation
Summarizes the January 2010 Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation conference where participants made recommendations to address issues concerning quality of and access to primary care across the country.
Date: 2010

Workers Who Care: A Graphical Profile of the Frontline Health and Health Care Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Chartbook providing information about frontline health care occupations, covering 32 occupational groups of health and health care workers with high levels of direct care/service, median annual wages under $40,000 and required educational training of a bachelor's degree or below. Data is available at the national level and by state.
Date: 2006

Workforce Development for Rural Mental Health
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
A summary of key findings from a NOSORH project in partnership with the Nevada Office of Rural Health and the National Center for Frontier Communities (NCFC) that focused on workforce development for rural mental health in Kansas, Nevada, and Virginia.
Date: 09 / 2009

Workforce Issues Among Sole Community Pharmacies
Author(s): Donald Klepser, Michelle Lampman, Andrea Radford, Indira Richardson, Stephen Rutledge
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Explores the shared experiences of sole community pharmacist-owners regarding the challenges facing the pharmacy workforce in their communities and their concerns about their pharmacy's future.
Date: 07 / 2009

Wyoming Primary Care Gaps and Policy Options
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Mark P. Doescher, Barbara J. Robinson
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies
Provides an overview of primary care providers within Wyoming and provides examples and policy options that could be employed to bolster the primary care workforce in the state.
Date: 12 / 2008

Journals

Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care
Peer-reviewed research and practice-related features for rural nurses and other health professionals. Sponsoring organization: Rural Nurse Organization

Virtual Mentor
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association

Organizations

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
National organization
Represents the interests of nurse practitioners of all specialties. Provides ongoing continuing education program accreditation opportunities.

American Nurses Association (ANA)
National organization
Represents over 3 million registered nurses through and United States. Regulates the standards of nursing practice, establishes health care policy, and lobbies Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues.

Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce
National organization
A non-profit organization dedicated to improving the recruitment, retention, training, and performance of the prevention and treatment workforce in the mental health and addictions sectors of the behavioral health field.

Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Works to mobilize and enhance the strengths and resources of the academic health center enterprise in health professions, education, patient care, and research.

Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service (BCRS)
Federal government
Coordinates the recruitment and retention of health professionals into the healthcare system and supports communities' efforts to build more integrated and sustainable systems of care. Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS)
Academic/Research
A research organization dedicated to the collection, analysis, and distribution of health workforce data.

Center for the Health Professions
National organization
Works to help health care professionals, schools, organizations and policymakers respond to the challenges of educating and managing the health care workforce. Part of the University of California, San Francisco.

Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME)
Federal government
Provides an ongoing assessment of physician workforce trends, training issues and financing policies, plus recommends appropriate federal and private sector efforts on these issues.

Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC)
National organization
Comprised of an alliance of over 50 national organizations representing schools, programs, health professionals and students dedicated to ensuring the health care workforce is trained to meet the needs of our diverse population.

Hire Heroes Program
National organization
Designed to help military veterans who were wounded find careers within the healthcare industry after serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations around the world.

MinorityNurse.Com
National organization
Online resource for the diversified nursing community. Provides resources and information pertaining to education, career development and minority health for the growing population of minority nurses in America.

National Area Health Education Center Organization (NAO)
National organization
Supports and advances the AHEC network in improving the health of individuals and communities by transforming health care through education.

National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)
National organization
National organization of state administrators of unemployment insurance, employment and training services, and labor market information programs in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB)
National organization
Represents the interests of the nation's Workforce Investment Boards that provide workforce development leadership in their communities. Governs and oversees the federal resources that support the operations of the national network of One-Stop Career Centers and federal training investments.

National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
Federal government
Collects, analyzes and disseminates health workforce information and facilitates national, state and local workforce planning efforts. Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

National Center for Rural Health Professions (NCRHP)
National organization
Provides rural interdisciplinary preceptorships and a rural training program for primary care physicians. Conducts research on healthcare workforce issues and is a Center for Excellence in Rural Health. Located at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford.

National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
Federal government
Works to improve the health of the underserved by recruiting and retaining the health professionals to deliver health care in underserved communities. Provides technical assistance to federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) on projects that enhance the NHSC's site development mission. Part of the Bureau of Health Professionals, Health Resources and Services Administration.

National Rural Health Resource Center (RHRC)
National organization
Provides technical support for the State Offices of Rural Health and their flex coordinators for the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, focuses on rural practice opportunities for healthcare providers in Minnesota and the surrounding region, does performance improvement with hospitals across the country, and develops the Rural Health Resource Directory of rural consultants and speakers found throughout the United States.

National Rural Recruitment & Retention Network (3RNet)
National organization
Works to help health care professionals, including dentists and dental hygienists, find practice opportunities in rural areas throughout the country. Includes state information and a list of state contacts.

National Workforce Association (NWA)
National organization
Dedicated to strengthening the nation's workforce development system. Provides expertise and input to federal, state and local elected officials to enable them to make sound policy decisions about the workforce system.

Rural Nurse Organization (RNO)
National organization
Supports the needs of rural nurses.

WWAMI Center for Health Workforce Studies
Academic/Research
Conducts relevant health workforce research and policy analysis in collaboration with federal and state agencies as well as develops and refines analytical methods for measuring state health workforce supply and requirements.

Terms & Acronyms

Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) AHECs are programs developed by Congress in 1971 to recruit, train and retain a health professions workforce committed to underserved populations. AHEC programs bring the resources of academic medicine to address local community health needs.

Community Apgar Questionnaire (CAQ) An evidence-based assessment for health care facilities to see how they stack up in the eyes of the health care providers they are recruiting.

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Geographic regions that have shortages of professionals working in primary medical care, dental or mental health care. HPSAs may be urban or rural areas, population groups or medical or other public facilities. Geographically, HPSAs can be cities or towns, counties or groups of counties. HPSA designations are reviewed and revised annually by the Secretary of Health and Human Services based on criteria set forth in the Public Health Service Act.

Health Professional Shortage Area - Mental Health (HPSA - Mental Health) HPSA designation for a shortage of mental healthcare professionals that requires three criteria are met. First, the area must be a rational area for delivery of mental healthcare services. Second, the ratio of population to existing providers must meet at least one of several criteria detailed in the Health Professional Shortage Area Mental Health Designation Criteria listed on the Bureau of Health Professions website. Also, the area under consideration must have mental health professionals in continuous (nearby/adjoining) areas that are over utilized, excessively distant or inaccessible.

Health Professional Shortage Area - Primary Care (HPSA - Primary Care) HPSA designation for a shortage of primary care health professionals that meets three requirements. First, the area must be a rational area for delivery of primary medical care services. Second, the ratio of population to existing providers must meet or exceed 3,500 people to every single provider or meet or exceed a ratio of 3,000 to 1 and have an unusually high level of need. Lastly, the area under consideration must have primary medical care professionals in continuous (nearby/adjoining) areas that are over utilized, excessively distant or inaccessible.

Health Professional Shortage Area - Dental Care (HPSA - Dental Care) The federal designation for a shortage of dental care health professionals that meets the following three criteria. First, the area must be a rational area for delivery of dental care services. Second, the ratio of population to existing providers must meet or exceed 5,000 people to every single provider or meet or exceed a ratio of 4,000 to 1 and have an unusually high level of need for dental services. Lastly, the area under consideration must have dental care professionals in continuous (nearby/adjoining) areas that are over utilized, excessively distant or inaccessible.

J-1 Visa Waiver Eliminates the two year residency requirement for foreign physicians training on a J-1 Visa. Allows foreign physicians to remain and practice in the United States after their training is completed.

Medically Underserved Area (MUA) Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) are federal designations derived from the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU). This index ranges from 0 to 100 and is based on four criteria: 1) ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 people, 2) infant mortality rate, 3) percent of the population with incomes below the poverty level and 4) the percent of the population age 65 or older. An IMU of 62.0 or less qualifies an area to be designated a MUA. Geographic areas designated as MUAs can be a whole county or a group of contiguous (adjoining) counties, minor civil divisions (MCD), census county divisions (CCD) or census tracts.

Medically Underserved Population (MUP) A federal designation that is derived by using the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU). This index ranges from 0 to 100 and is based on four criteria: 1) ratio of primary medical care physicians per 1,000 people, 2) infant mortality rate, 3) percent of the population with incomes below the poverty level and 4) the percent of the population age 65 or older.

Patient Navigator (PA) A health care worker who provides assistance to patients who are facing a medical diagnosis or chronic disease. Patient navigators address the issues of health disparities and help racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations who do not always receive appropriate advice and care when confronted with a potentially serious disease. They possess knowledge of the local community, effective communication skills, and cultural and health literacy sensitivity to their areas.

Recruitment Process of adding new individuals to a population by growth or immigration.

Retention To keep in one's service or employment

Rural Training Track (RTT) A rural family medicine physician residency site that supports family medicine training in rural communities.

Workforce Workers employed in a specific project or activity.

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RAC Documents Search: Health Care and Workforce

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Page last updated 2/3/2012
Topic last reviewed 5/25/2011

News
Feb 3, 2012 -- Sen. Udall Drafting Bill to Kill Telemedicine Barriers

Feb 3, 2012 -- Aging America Creates Demand for Health - Care Workers

Feb 3, 2012 -- How One Hospital Entices Doctors to Work In Rural America

Feb 2, 2012 -- Rural Health: Residency Doctor Chooses to Return to Rural Roots

Feb 2, 2012 -- Retroactive Rule Change by CMS Eases Family Physicians' Workload

Feb 2, 2012 -- Redirecting Rural Health Research: A Think Tank Summit

Feb 1, 2012 -- CBO Reduces Baseline Estimates for Health Care Spending

Feb 1, 2012 -- Country Doctors: Center Draws Doctors to Underserved Areas

Jan 31, 2012 -- Wakefield: Proud to Partner with NRHA

Jan 31, 2012 -- Maryland Envisions "Enterprise Zones" to Attract Physicians

Jan 31, 2012 -- Study Finds 55 Percent of Nurses Are Overweight or Obese

Jan 30, 2012 -- Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist?

Jan 27, 2012 -- Recruitment of Sites for Assignment of National Health Service Corps Loan Repayors (FY 2012)

Jan 23, 2012 -- Comment Request for Information Collection for the H-1B Technical Skills Training (H-1B) and the H-1B Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge (JIAC) Grant Programs, New Collection

Jan 23, 2012 -- Loan Repayment Program for Repayment of Health Professions Educational Loans; Announcement Type: Initial

Jan 18, 2012 -- White House Outlines Progress, Plans

Jan 17, 2012 -- Rural - Area Nurses Provide Critical Care

Jan 17, 2012 -- MedPAC Discusses Rural Payment Report

Jan 12, 2012 -- Electronic Banking Could Save Health System $4.5 Billion

Jan 12, 2012 -- Family Physicians Can Expect Immediate Changes in Medicare Payment for 2012

Jan 11, 2012 -- HRSA's Wakefield on CHCs, ACOs and Strengthening the Health Workforce

Jan 10, 2012 -- Q&A: Farzad Mostashari on Meaningful Use, Privacy

Jan 10, 2012 -- What Health Care Looked Like: The Challenges of a Rural Physician

Jan 6, 2012 -- Affordable Care Act Provision Cuts Red Tape, Saves up to $4.5 Billion

Jan 5, 2012 -- Doctors Going Broke

Jan 4, 2012 -- No Shortage of Nursing Care

Jan 4, 2012 -- CMS's Proposed Hospital Staffing Revisions Get Cool Reception

Jan 4, 2012 -- Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule, Five-Year Review of Work Relative Value Units, Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Signature on Requisition, and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2012; Corrections

Jan 4, 2012 -- Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment; Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment; Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program; Physician Self-Referral; and Patient Notification Requirements in Provider Agreements; Corrections

Jan 3, 2012 -- Hospital Lures Rural Doctors with Unusual Offer

Dec 30, 2011 -- Doctor, Nurse Shortages Unlikely, New Research Finds

Dec 28, 2011 -- National Advisory Council on the National Health Service Corps; Notice of Meeting

Dec 28, 2011 -- Rural Health Training Programs Spreading

Dec 27, 2011 -- Improvements in Nation's Health Stalled after Years of Progress

Dec 23, 2011 -- Congress Provides Near-level Funding for Primary Care Training Programs

Dec 23, 2011 -- GOP Pauses 'Doc Fix' Fight, Averts 27 Percent Medicare Pay Cut

Dec 21, 2011 -- Medicare Program; Independence at Home Demonstration Program

Dec 20, 2011 -- Spending Growth for Physician Services Rebounding

Dec 20, 2011 -- Affordable Care Act Helps 32 Health Systems Improve Care for Patients, Saving Up to $1.1 Billion

Dec 19, 2011 -- Penalty for Not Prescribing Electronically Kicks in Jan. 1, 2012

Dec 19, 2011 -- How States Are Keeping Doctors from Moving Out

Dec 16, 2011 -- Guidance Released for National Health Service Corps Critical Access Hospital Pilot Program

Dec 16, 2011 -- MedPAC Discusses 2013 Payment Recommendations

Dec 15, 2011 -- Nurse Practitioners Fill a Gap in Rural Health Care

Dec 15, 2011 -- Nurse Practitioners Fill a Gap in Rural Health Care

Dec 15, 2011 -- Affordable Care Act Sunshine Rule Increases Transparency in Health Care

Dec 15, 2011 -- Partnership for Patients Initiative to Improve Hospital Care Affordable Care Act Funding Will Help Health Providers

Dec 15, 2011 -- Physician Assistants Look to Expand EHR Incentive Eligibility

Dec 14, 2011 -- New RNs’ Lack of Geographic Mobility has Negative Implications for Rural Health

Dec 12, 2011 -- Early EMR Adopters Get a Break; Tougher Criteria Delayed to 2014

Dec 8, 2011 -- Health IT Leaders Launch Info-Sharing Website

Dec 7, 2011 -- Rural Health: Biggest Need: More Rural Health Care Providers

Dec 7, 2011 -- Medicare Program; Availability of Medicare Data for Performance Measurement; Final Rule

Dec 6, 2011 -- Study Finds Surge in Young Nurses Over Past Decade

Dec 5, 2011 -- CDC Reports Increase in EHR Adoption by Office-Based Physicians

Events
Feb 22, 2012
2012 MPCA Human Resources Webinar Series: Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Michigan Primary Care Association
10:00 - 11:00 AM Eastern
Webinar, MI
Contact:
  Kimberly Benjamin
  517.827.0468
  kbenjamin@mpca.net


Mar 21, 2012
2012 MPCA Human Resources Webinar Series: Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Michigan Primary Care Association
10:00 - 11:00 AM Eastern
Webinar, MI
Contact:
  Kimberly Benjamin
  517.827.0468
  kbenjamin@mpca.net


Apr 10, 2012
2012 5th Annual Indiana AHEC Meeting
Indiana Area Health Education Center Program
The Marten House
Indianapolis, IN
Contact:
  Angela Holloway
  anhollow@iupui.edu


Apr 18, 2012
2012 MPCA Human Resources Webinar Series: Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Michigan Primary Care Association
10:00 - 11:00 AM Eastern
Webinar, MI
Contact:
  Kimberly Benjamin
  517.827.0468
  kbenjamin@mpca.net


May 4 - 5, 2012
2012 29th Annual Primary Care Update
Washington Area Health Education Center - WSU
Red Lion Hotel at the Park
Spokane, WA
Contact:
  509.358.7640
  ahec@wsu.edu


May 16, 2012
2012 MPCA Human Resources Webinar Series: Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Michigan Primary Care Association
10:00 - 11:00 AM Eastern
Webinar, MI
Contact:
  Kimberly Benjamin
  517.827.0468
  kbenjamin@mpca.net


Jun 13, 2012
2012 MPCA Human Resources Webinar Series: Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Michigan Primary Care Association
10:00 - 11:00 AM Eastern
Webinar, MI
Contact:
  Kimberly Benjamin
  517.827.0468
  kbenjamin@mpca.net


Sep 18 - 20, 2012
2012 17th Annual 3RNet Conference and Membership Meeting
National Rural Recruitment & Retention Network
Hotel Murano
Tacoma, WA
Contact:
  Nikki Kennedy
  800.787.2512
  info@3rnet.org


Oct 14 - 17, 2012
2012 Annual National Staff Development and Training Association Conference
American Public Human Services Association
The Hilton Portland & Executive Tower Hotel
Portland, OR
Contact:
  Carolyn Ross
  503.947.5071
  carolyn.ross@state.or.us


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Funding for this project was supported by Grant Number U56RH05539 from the Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this website are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the funder.