Allied health professionals

Completed Projects

Listed by project completion date. You can also view these projects alphabetically.

2024

• Trends in Health Workforce Supply in the Rural U.S.
  Rural communities in the U.S. have struggled to recruit and sustain sufficient health professionals to ensure adequate access to care. This study used multiple sources of data to describe the geographic distribution (rural/urban, regional, and intra-rural) of numerous types of health professionals.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Oral health, Physician assistants, Physicians
  

2023

• The Direct Care Workforce in Rural Areas
  In this study, we measured the supply of long-term care services and supports (LTSS) direct care workers relative to older adult populations in rural and urban areas and measure employer and industry turnover among LTSS direct care workers. We also explored how compensation levels – including wages and employer-based health insurance – are related to and predict worker turnover in the LTSS direct care workforce in rural and urban areas.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Allied health professionals, Health services, Home health, Long-term care, Post-acute care, Poverty, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health, Workforce
  

2022

• Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Personnel: Comparing Rural and Urban Provider Experience and Provision of Evidence-based Care
  This study described the relationship between prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) providers' accumulated experience and provision of evidence-based care for rural and urban populations using newly available data on EMS agencies, personnel, and patient care.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Health services, Workforce
  

2021

• Post-acute Care Trajectories for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
  Utilization and costs of post-acute care for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries have grown rapidly during the last decade. This study examined post-acute care utilization for rural Medicare beneficiaries following acute hospitalization, describing use of home health and skilled nursing care and trajectories of care across settings.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Allied health professionals, Health services, Home health, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Post-acute care
  

2020

• Malpractice Claims Among Rural and Urban Providers: Do State Telehealth Laws Make a Difference?
  This project examines trends in state telehealth laws and whether they have affected the rural and urban malpractice environments differentially. Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank are used to determine whether changes in telehealth laws are associated with increased malpractice claims and other adverse actions against providers.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Legislation and regulation, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Telehealth, Workforce
  
• Team-Based Primary Care in Rural Communities
  This project will describe primary care practice structure in rural communities and quantify characteristics of primary care teams associated with high-quality care.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Healthcare access, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physicians, Quality, Rural statistics and demographics, Workforce
  

2019

• Examining the Legal Landscape in Rural America: Implications for the Healthcare Workforce, Access to Care, and Population Health
  This project explores potential rural/urban differences in the prevalence of malpractice claims, clinical privilege actions, and state licensure actions among health care providers. We will also examine whether variations in nurse practitioner scope of practice laws affect rural residents differentially, especially with respect to preventive care.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Health services, Legislation and regulation, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Workforce
  

2018

• Implications of Rural Ambulance Service Closures
  The purpose of this project was to examine closed ambulance services and those ambulance services adjacent to the closed units. The ambulance services adjacent to those which closed were examined by service area, workload, and staffing for one year prior to and one year after the adjacent service closure.
  Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Frontier health, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Workforce
  

2017

• The Supply and Distribution of the Behavioral Health Workforce in Rural America
  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.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Mental and behavioral health, Workforce
  

2016

• What Is the Potential of Community Paramedicine to Fill Rural Healthcare Gaps?
  Community paramedicine (CP) has been promoted as a strategy to help communities achieve the Triple Aim of improving healthcare and population health while lowering costs. This study proposes to collect descriptive information on CP programs that can be identified in the U.S., and for those programs with outcome data, compare rural with urban programs in terms of their goals, services offered, outcomes measured, and results, where available.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma
  

2012

• Community College's Contributions to the Education of Allied Health Professionals in Rural Areas of the U.S.
  This study will identify rural-serving community colleges across the U.S. and their 5-year graduation trends for specific allied health professions, examine the spectrum of how rural allied health professions education currently is being allocated and delivered, and explore how community economic status and estimated regional allied health workforce demand is associated with the availability of rural community college allied health education programs.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Workforce
  

2008

• Move Toward Clinical Doctorates in the Allied Health Professions: Implications for Rural Areas
  Allied health occupations play a major role in health care delivery and comprise a significant proportion of the health care workforce in the United States. Researchers have found empirical evidence of allied health shortages in many states. Given the longstanding history of health professional shortages facing rural areas, there are concerns that the existing and impending shortages in allied health professions may be particularly acute in rural areas. This study will synthesize information on allied health professions, such as credentialing requirements and wage comparisons, with telephone and in-person interviews of rural health care employers, educators, and practitioners in order to assess the degree of alignment between community needs for allied health care services and existing and proposed certification and educational training for these health care providers.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Workforce
  

2004

• State of Rural Health Provider Organizations and Health Professional Shortages
  This study addresses the convergence of health professions shortages and financial limitations among rural hospitals and rural home health providers. Successful strategies or best practices implemented in rural areas to address the shortages will be identified.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Home health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Workforce