Allied health professionals

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications on this topic completed by the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

2024

Trends in the Health Workforce Supply in the Rural U.S.
Report
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2024
This report examines the availability of current and historical workforce data for a variety of health care professionals and provides estimates of the trends in the supply and distribution in the rural vs. urban U.S. workforce.

2022

Changes in the Supply and Rural-Urban Distribution of Counselors in the U.S., 2014-2021
Fact Sheet
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2022
There are rural vs. urban disparities and unequal distribution of behavioral health providers across U.S. Census Divisions. This study examined the trends in the supply of counselors by rural-urban status and Census Division.
Changes in the Supply and Rural-Urban Distribution of Psychologists in the U.S., 2014-2021
Fact Sheet
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2022
There are rural vs. urban disparities and unequal distribution of behavioral health providers across U.S. Census Divisions. This study examined the trends in the supply of psychologists by rural-urban status and Census Division.
Changes in the Supply and Rural-Urban Distribution of Social Workers in the U.S., 2014-2021
Fact Sheet
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2022
There are rural vs. urban disparities and unequal distribution of behavioral health providers across U.S. Census Divisions. This study examined the trends in the supply of social workers by rural-urban status and Census Division.
Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Personnel: Comparing Rural and Urban Professional Experience and Provision of Evidence-Based Care
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 05/2022
This policy brief examines the effects of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel level of experience and agency rurality on the provision of evidenced-based care. Compared with urban-serving EMS agencies, rural-serving agencies provided evidence-based care less often for stroke, hypoglycemia, and trauma but more often for seizures.

2021

Community Health Worker Roles and Their Evolving Interprofessional Relationships in the United States
Journal Article
Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2021
This project analyzes the evolving integration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into the United States healthcare system. CHWs can aid patients in navigating the complex nature of medical services. Through focus groups with CHWs, three stages in the interprofessional relationships between CHWs and other care providers were identified.
Community Health Worker Sustainability: Funding, Payment, and Reimbursement Laws in the United States
Journal Article
Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Date: 04/2021
Recent changes have been made to community health worker (CHW) funding at the federal level, but payment structures vary from state to state. This paper aims to identify funding mechanisms that would enable CHW programs to sustain a robust workforce.

2016

What Is the Potential of Community Paramedicine to Fill Rural Healthcare Gaps?
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 11/2016
This study collected information on rural community paramedicine in the U.S. programs to describe their goals, target populations, services offered, connections with local community providers and resources, outcomes measured, and results, where available.
Community Factors and Outcomes of Home Health Care for High-Risk Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2016
Outcomes of care vary by region of the country for rural Medicare beneficiaries receiving home health services for high-risk conditions such as heart failure. Those in the East South Central and West South Central Census Divisions had lower rates of community discharge and higher rates of hospital readmission and emergency department use.
Access to Rural Home Health Services: Views From the Field
Report
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2016
Access to home health care can be challenging for rural Medicare clients. Key informants for this study detailed obstacles, including financial, regulatory, workforce, and geographic issues. Rural communities will likely benefit from payment reforms that reward quality services while providing incentives to use best practices in home health care.

2015

Access to Health Information Technology Training Programs at the Community College Level
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 11/2015
Successful implementation of health information technology (HIT) in rural areas depends on a well-trained HIT workforce, and community colleges are key in producing this workforce. This study examined HIT workforce development programs in community colleges to find their strengths and needs.
Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Personnel in Rural Areas: Results From a Survey in Nine States
Report
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 08/2015
This study examines supply and demand for emergency response personnel, the involvement of medical directors, and the availability of medical consultation in rural and urban emergency service personnel (EMS) agencies in nine states.

2012

The Contributions of Community Colleges to the Education of Allied Health Professionals in Rural Areas of the United States
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2012
This policy brief describes where community college allied health education programs (of those most relevant to rural healthcare delivery) are located in relation to rural populations and small rural hospitals.
The Contributions of Community Colleges to the Education of Allied Health Professionals in Rural Areas of the United States (Final Report)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2012
Community colleges educate a significant portion of the nation's allied health workforce, and because they have a history of educating residents of their communities for local jobs, they are important to the economies of many rural communities.

2006

Professional Liability Issues and Practice Patterns of Obstetrical Providers in Washington State
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 2006
Objective: To describe recent changes in obstetric practice patterns and liability insurance premium costs and their consequences to Washington State obstetric providers (obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians, certified nurse midwives, licensed midwives).
Methods: All obstetrician-gynecologists, rural family physicians, certified nurse midwives, licensed midwives, and a simple random sample of urban family physicians were surveyed about demographic and practice characteristics, liability insurance characteristics, practice changes and limitations due to liability insurance issues, obstetric practices, and obstetric practice environment changes.
Results: Fewer family physicians provide obstetric services than obstetrician-gynecologists, certified nurse midwives, and licensed midwives. Mean liability insurance premiums for obstetric providers increased by 61% for obstetrician-gynecologists, 75% for family physicians, 84% for certified nurse midwives, and 34% for licensed midwives from 2002 to 2004. Providers' most common monetary responses to liability insurance issues were to reduce compensation and to raise cash through loans and liquidating assets. In the 2 years of markedly increased premiums, obstetrician-gynecologists reported increasing their cesarean rates, their obstetric consultation rates, and the number of deliveries. They reported decreasing high-risk obstetric procedures during that same period.
Conclusion: Liability insurance premiums rose dramatically from 2002 to 2004 for Washington's obstetric providers, leading many to make difficult financial decisions. Many obstetric providers reported a variety of practice changes during that interval. Although this study's results do not document an impending exodus of providers from obstetric practice, rural areas are most vulnerable because family physicians provide the majority of rural obstetric care and are less likely to practice obstetrics.