Getting Health Care Was Already Tough In Rural Areas. The Pandemic Has Made It Worse

Even before the pandemic, the health care systems that serve rural Americans were in decline: rural hospitals were closing their doors, and the medical workforce was shrinking. This year, as the coronavirus outbreak has made its way from major cities to rural America, threats to the rural health care infrastructure have only increased.

 As rural Americans struggle for health care access, insurers may be making things worse

Living in rural America certainly comes with a number of benefits. There is less crime, access to the outdoors, and lower costs of living. Yet, not everything is rosy outside the city limits. Rural communities face growing infrastructure problems like decaying water systems. And they have more limited access to amenities ranging from grocery stores to movie theaters, lower quality schools, and less access to high-speed internet. Yet perhaps most daunting are the tremendous health disparities rural Americans face, in terms of both their own health and accessing care.

 Rural hospital closings reach crisis stage, leaving millions without nearby health care

Presidential candidates and other politicians have talked about the rural health crisis in the U.S., but they are not telling rural Americans anything new. Rural Americans know all too well what it feels like to have no hospital and emergency care when they break a leg, go into early labor, or have progressive chronic diseases, such as diabetes and congestive heart failure.

 Strong medicine is needed to solve America’s rural health crisis

The health care situation in rural America has gotten worse since my childhood. Rural Americans face serious health disparities because of the shortage of physicians and the resulting lack of access to care.

 The Struggle To Hire And Keep Doctors In Rural Areas Means Patients Go Without Care

There's a changing of the guard going on in the health care industry, and its effects may be most apparent in rural America. As baby boomer doctors retire, independent family practices are closing, especially in small towns. Only 1% of doctors in their final year of medical school say they want to live in communities under 10,000; only 2% were wanted to live in towns of 25,000 or fewer.

 With Rural Health Care Stretched Thin, More Patients Turn To Telehealth

If not for telehealth, Marcin says, the costs of getting what should be routine care "are significant barriers for those living in rural communities."

Inside a Life-Saving Rural Clinic in Appalachia

In some parts of central Appalachia, doctors are few and far between, and so is the money to pay for them. That leaves a weekend-long annual medical event as some people's only way to get treatment.

Mobile health faces a bumpy road in rural California

Adopting m-health would allow doctors to reach out through mobile phones and tablet apps to conduct examinations while such patients remain at home; track exercise, blood pressure or other metrics; send reminders to take a walk or take a pill; or deliver information to help manage chronic ailments. But spotty cellular networks in the southern Sierra create problems for people using mobile apps.

Shortage of rural surgeons: How bad is it?

As these data demonstrate, there is a lot of conflicting information regarding the degree of shortage of rural surgeons. It can be difficult to draw conclusions and come up with a real answer to the question of how many rural surgeons are needed now and in the future.

The death rate gap between urban and rural America is getting wider

The simple fact of where you live can have a huge impact on your health.

Why Are There So Few Doctors in Rural America?

The rugged lifestyle has its appeal, just not for physicians.