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.
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.
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.
Community Health Worker Evaluation Tool Kit
Web site
Guide to program evaluation for community health workers and community health worker programs.
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.
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.
Designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) Statistics
Web site
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. Data is updated several times a month.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Find Shortage Areas: HPSA by State & County
Database
Provides searching for Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) by region, state, county, designation status, and type of service- primary medical care, dental, and mental health. Includes date of latest designation status.
FindAResident (FAR)
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.
FREIDA Online
Database
Contains over 9,000 medical education programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, as well as over 100 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.
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.
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.
Health Care Workforce
Web site
Provides news, education, events, and examples of workforce success stories titled Ideas in Action.
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.
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.
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.
HWIC: Residency Programs
Web site
Provides a variety of resources on training and education programs that physicians complete after medical school.
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.
Medically Underserved Area/Medically Underserved Population (MUA/MUP) Database
Database
Allows searching by state, county, or ID number. Includes designation status and date.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NHSC Jobs Center
Database
Replaces the former Job Opportunities List (JOL). The Jobs Center is a resource for primary care providers looking for jobs at NHSC sites. The site provides improved search capabilities and easier navigation, and includes more detailed information about NHSC sites. The Jobs Center is integrated with Google map technology, allowing users to schools, businesses and other amenities surrounding NHSC sites.
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.
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.
Rural FP Community
Web site
Information and resources for family physicians, health care providers and others who serve the nation's rural families.
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.
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.
Rural Training Track Technical Assistance Program (RTT-TAP)
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.
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.
Shortage Designation: Health Professional Shortage Areas & Medically Underserved Areas / Populations
Web site
Describes and provides information on how to apply for and locate shortage designations: Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas and Populations (MUAs/MUPs).
State Licensure for International Dentists
Web site
Provides information on the state licensure process for dentists who were educated outside the United States and Canada and wish to obtain a state dental license in the U.S.
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.
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.
Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) Symposium
Web site
Provides access to video and audio recordings of numerous presentations given at several Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) Symposiums.
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.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
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 Chronic Disease through Community Health Workers: A Policy and Systems-Level Approach
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Provides guidance and resources for implementing
recommendations to integrate community health workers (CHWs) into community-based efforts to prevent chronic disease.
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
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
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
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
Community Health Workers: Expanding the Scope of the Health Care Delivery System
Author(s): Kristine Goodwin, Laura Tobler
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
Examines how community health workers (CHWs) can connect underserved populations with health and human service providers.
Date: 04 / 2008
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
Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Dartmouth Atlas project is a funded research effort of the faculty of the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School. The Atlas project brings together researchers in diverse disciplines - including epidemiology, economics, and statistics - and focuses on the accurate description of how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States.
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
Matching Supply to Demand: Addressing the U.S. Primary Care Workforce Shortage
Author(s): Emily R. Carrier, Tracy Yee, Lucy Stark
Sponsoring organization: Center for Studying Health System Change
Discusses the growing primary care workforce shortage in the United States, the distribution of primary care practitioners and patient needs.
Date: 12 / 2011
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
Mental Health Outreach: Guidelines and Resources for Community Health Workers
Sponsoring organization: American Red Cross
A guide for training community health workers providing mental health outreach in communities recovering from a disaster or facing capacity shortages for mental health services.
Date: 2009
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
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
Primary Care Workforce Facts and Stats No. 3: Distribution of the U.S. Primary Care Workforce
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Shows that primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are more likely to practice in rural areas than are non-primary care specialists, but are still more concentrated in urban areas.
Date: 01 / 2012
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
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
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
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
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 Residency Training for Family Medicine Physicians: Graduate Early-Career Outcomes
Author(s): Davis G. Patterson, Randall Longenecker, David Schmitz, Imam M. Xierali, Robert L. Phillips, Jr., Susan M. Skillman, Mark P. Doescher, MD
Sponsoring organization: Rural Training Track Technical Assistance Program
Discusses family medicine rural training track residency programs (RTTs), which train physicians for practice in rural and underserved areas.
Date: 01 / 2012
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
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
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
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
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
Workforce Crisis: Time for Talk is Over
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.
Journal citation: Eye On Health Newsletter
Date: 02 / 2009
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
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
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 Studying Health System Change (HSC)
National organization
Informs policy makers and private decision makers about how local and national changes in the financing and delivery of health care affect people.
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.
Rural Psychology and Integrated Care (RPIC)
Academic/Research
Prepares new psychologists, substance abuse counselors, social workers, nurses and other health care providers to address rural mental and behavioral health needs. Trains students to serve as a part of integrated health care teams in rural communities.
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.
