Recruitment of rural health care providers: a regional recruiter strategy.

CONTEXT

Access to care in rural areas is a major problem. Despite more than 20% of the US population residing in these areas, only 9% of physicians practice there. Extensive research has documented multiple issues that affect where physicians decide to locate and maintain practices. Creative strategies have been used to influence these recruitment and retention decisions. An emerging strategy, borne out of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP), effectively uses a targeted regional approach to assist rural communities and health care facilities in assessing health care needs and recruiting primary care providers.

PURPOSE

This article examines the issues surrounding recruitment and retention of primary care providers to rural areas and describes the experiences of the regional recruitment strategy in several states and in particular in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas.

METHODS

A case study approach is used to examine the targeted regional recruiter strategy in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas.

FINDINGS

The regional recruiter strategy, which combines traditional recruitment efforts with community development activities, has been successful in recruiting health care providers to rural communities. The cost-effective strategy can be easily replicated in other rural states.

CONCLUSIONS

Community factors affect provider decisions on practice locations. Addressing community factors in recruitment efforts through community development activities may increase their success.