Rural areas said to have enough doctors

A new study finds no real difference in access to health care in rural versus urban areas. Not everyone agrees.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Sept. 12, 2005.

Health care access and quality in rural areas is generally on par with that of urban areas, according to research recently published in Health Affairs. The study stands in stark contrast to the widespread perception that there's a critical shortage of rural physicians. Coincidentally, rural medical care is the theme of the August Academic Medicine, which in its opening editorial states the shortage of medical care in rural communities is one aspect of the physician work-force debate that most agree exists.

However, James Reschovsky, PhD, lead author of the Health Affairs study and a senior health researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change, says his research shows that barring those who live in health professional shortage areas, those who live in rural areas aren't necessarily hard-pressed to find medical care.

"I think the perception of inadequate supply has a lot to do with the fact there are fewer physicians in rural areas relative to the population, but that's not to say there aren't enough physicians in rural America to meet the need," Dr. Reschovsky said. "The results don't dispute the fact that there are certain areas in rural America that have an inadequate number of physicians, but it's a very small percentage of the rural population that actually lives in medically underserved areas."

Dr. Reschovsky's nationwide survey of patients and physicians found little difference between rural and urban perceptions of access and quality of care. The single exception was mental health care, which was difficult to find in rural areas, according to respondents.