Purpose: This study reports the baseline knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and personal practices of health care professionals regarding colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the High Plains Research Network (HPRN) of rural Colorado prior to a community-based educational intervention. It also examines the association between health care staff members'…

Context: Medical and allied health professionals who work in agricultural states frequently address the needs of clients who live and work in rural and frontier environments. The primary occupations of those living in rural areas include farming, ranching, or other agriculture-related work. Farming is consistently ranked as one of the most…

Context: Past research has documented rural physician and health care professional shortages. Purpose: Rural hospital chief executive officers' (CEOs') reported shortages of health professionals and perceptions about recruiting and retention are compared in Illinois and Arkansas. Methods: A survey, previously developed and sent to 28 CEOs in…

Context: Rural hospitals are heavily dependent on Medicare for their long-term financial solvency. A recent change to Medicare prospective payment system reimbursement--the occupational mix adjustment (OMA) to the wage index--has attracted a great deal of attention in rural policy circles. Purpose: This paper explores variation in the OMA across…

Purpose: To identify characteristics and outcomes of patients who use physician assistants and nurse practitioners (PA/NPs) as a usual source of care. Methods: Cross sectional analysis using the telephone and mail surveys of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), a prospective cohort study of Wisconsin high school graduates and selected siblings…

Background: Studies have described the aggregate results of federal funding for health professions education at the national level, but analysis of the long-term impact of institutional participation in these programs has been limited. Purpose: To describe and assess federally supported curricular innovations at East Tennessee State University…

Context: Physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) have licensure to practice in all states and they have prescriptive authority in 47 and 40 states, respectively. However, there have been no published studies from a national standpoint comparing urban and rural settings. Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the…