Data from the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) file, linked to RUCA codes and population data will be used to identify behavioral health providers and describe their geographic (rural/urban, regional and intra-rural) distribution. Behavioral health professions identified in the file include psychiatrists, addiction medicine specialists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists in mental health, clinical psychologists and licensed social workers.

Publications

• Geographic Variation in the Supply of Selected Behavioral Health Providers
  Journal Article
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 06/2018
  This study examined the supply of select behavioral health providers by metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core county and Census Division. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners are unequally distributed throughout the U.S., with disparities between Census Divisions and rural vs. urban areas.
• Supply and Distribution of the Behavioral Health Workforce in Rural America
  Policy Brief
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 09/2016
  This brief uses National Provider Identifier (NPI) data to report on the variability of the supply and provider to population ratios of five types of behavioral health workforce providers (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurse practitioners, counselors) in Metropolitan, Micropolitan and Non-core rural areas across the U.S.