This study will use existing nationwide data to explore the impact of federally supported safety net providers on private-sector physician supply in rural communities. The study will include an examination of overall national trends concerning physician recruitment and retention in areas with community and migrant health centers (C/MHCs), an important component of the health care safety net. The study will focus on a descriptive comparison of the ability of towns of similar socioeconomic status and geographic isolation to attract and retain new physicians between 1991 and 1996, depending on whether they did or did not have an established C/MHC. This study will use a database that was jointly developed by the WWAMI RHRC and the University of North Carolina's Sheps Center to study program effects on trends in rural physician location.

There may be products related to this project; please contact the lead researcher for more information.