Individuals possess distinguishing characteristics, such as age, education, level of income, extent of health insurance coverage, and degree of health literacy that contribute to the likelihood they will experience health disparities. Where they live and work also will play an important role due to a rural-urban divide that exists. For example, an article in the January 2020 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine discusses how in the U.S., rural residents have poorer health than urban residents and this disadvantage is growing. Compared with metropolitan county residents, inhabitants of the most rural counties were seven percentage points more likely to have a usual source of care (81% vs 74%), but their providers were 13 percentage points less likely to be physicians (22% vs 35%). Despite having to travel longer to reach their usual source of care providers, residents of the most rural counties were 12 percentage points less likely than metropolitan residents to have usual source of care providers with office hours on nights and weekends (27% vs 39%).
Rural counties make up approximately 80% of the land area of this nation, but they contain less than 20% of the U.S. population. The relative sparseness of the population in rural areas is one of many factors that influence the health and well- being of the inhabitants of these places. An important difference pertaining to the health workforce is that some rural counties may lack the presence of a single member of a particular health profession, such as dentistry or psychiatry. Older patients with chronic ailments often require rehabilitation care, which typically requires a team consisting at a minimum of physicians, nurses, dietitians, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech therapists.
Hospitals often serve as the main type of venue where such teams are located, but as Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, pointed out in a presentation she made on February 12, 2020 at the National Rural Health Association’s policy institute, more than 120 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, which does not appear to be a step in the right direction of ensuring the presence of a sufficient network of health providers. Unlike students who live in big cities that have access to several academic institutions with health professions programs reachable by subway and bus, rural students lack this luxury and may live hundreds of miles from educational resources. Fortunately, telehealth services can benefit patients and online degree programs may be available to enable the pursuit of academic degrees necessary to become health professionals, but it is not the same as having face-to-face kinds of opportunities that exist in urban areas.
Health policy is in a state of flux. Some presidential candidates propose new approaches, such as Medicare for All, but it is not entirely clear what impacts possibly could materialize that affect the delivery of health care services. Changes in reimbursement patterns, for example, either could slow the pace of hospital closings in rural areas or accelerate their disappearance if financing levels prove to be less than what is necessary to enable these facilities to remain afloat financially.
More Articles from February 2020 TRENDS
GEOGRAPHIC INFLUENCE ON HEALTH DISPARITIES
Indicates how inhabitants of rural parts of the U.S. have poorer health outcomes than their urban counterparts and reduced access to health care resources. Read more
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
President Phyllis King discusses the newly revised ASAHP Strategic Plan. Read more
PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN
Depicts federal government funding initiatives revealed in the President’s 2020 State of the Union Address and in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget. Read More
HEALTH REFORM DEVELOPMENTS
Points out some challenges in financing the steady growth of health care costs and efforts to curb waste in the provision of services. Read More
DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Describes a regulatory step by the federal government to address violations of free speech rights of students and a bipartisan proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (ACE). Read More
QUICK STAT (SHORT, TIMELY, AND TOPICAL)
2020 Patient Data Breach Barometer
Self-Reported Marijuana Use In Electronic Cigarettes Among U.S. Youth
· Light-Adapted Electroretinogram Difference In Autism Spectrum Disorder
Evolving Magnetically Levitated Plasma Proteins Detect Opioid Use Disorder As A Model Disease Read More
AVAILABLE RESOURCES ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONICALLY
Clinical Prevention And Population Health Curriculum Framework
Precarious Work Schedules And Population Health
Quantification Of U.S. Neighborhood-Level Social Determinants Of Health Read More
THE ROAD TO IMMORTALITY IS PAVED WITH EPONYMS
Mentions historical trends in the production of health eponyms and views of a sample of neurology residents about the continued use of these naming devices. Read More
QUANTIFYING HEALTH SYSTEMS’ INVESTMENTS IN SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Refers to an investigation of the extent to which U.S. health systems are investing in housing-focused interventions, employment, education, food security, transportation, and social and community endeavors. Read More