The future of healthcare in rural America is receiving increased attention. Aging equipment and facilities, inadequate financial resources, and shortage of health professionals have led many experts to predict that rural health care services in many areas may be impacted, thus jeopardizing access to care for many rural residents.
The economic, cultural, social, geographic, demographic, and political characteristics of rural communities are sufficiently different from those for urban and suburban communities to require special consideration when planning and implementing health care policy. Rural issues are being considered at both the national and state levels as well as legislation that focus on specific rural health initiatives. Given this attention, it is appropriate to analyze the problems and outline strategies to assure adequate health care delivery nationally and in rural Nebraska.
Policy Statements:
Definition of Rural
Quality of Rural Health Care
Public Reporting of Hospital Quality in Rural Communities
Rural Public Health
Insurance Coverage for Rural Americans
Health Care Workforce Distribution and Shortage Issues
Health Information Technology
Federal Medicaid Reform: A Rural Perspective
Emergency Medical Services
Niche Providers in Rural Areas
Definition of Frontier
