Rural Physicians
"This is my hometown; it's where I grew up. That compels me to serve, and work to fix the socio-economic problems I see here."
"It was a perfect opportunity coming out of residency to try to succeed in private practice. In the same way I'm here for my patients and community, I want someone to be there for me."
What TMA can/must do:
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0 out of 3 items completed
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Demographics
Age: > 50% are 40-50 years
> 25% are 50-60 years
> 25% are 60 years +
Frustrations
- Small population creates problems with getting sufficient physician coverage for when on vacations, etc.
- Isolated, very little camaraderie, missing the exchange of ideas with other MDs; no physician in adjacent counties makes the doctor's life sometimes challenging.
- Hard to recruit additional physicians into smaller communities to join our small practice.
- Few resources for Mental Health services
- Need promotional/PR support to increase awareness of health issues; written patient education resources on nutrition, exercise, etc.
- We see many more payment plans, such as Medicaid – some patients are very low income.
I need Organized Medicine to...
TMA Composition
Pie Chart
Rural Membership
30% Rural
70% Metro
Goals
- Have more time with patients, family, community and personal
- Save money in the practice.
- Serve my community, continue doing what I love
- Maintain better work-life balance
- To reduce practice costs without affecting quality of services
- To continue their chosen profession in a small community
Patient Characteristics:
- Aging, underinsured patient population
- More tobacco use, alcohol abuse, obesity
- Patients more likely to be admitted to the hospital in a serious condition from delayed treatment
- Lower educational levels, lower socio economic status introduce challenges.
- Independent nature, sometimes distrusting of health professionals
- Less likely to adhere to treatment due to independent nature.
Professional Challenges:
- Overwhelmed with red tape, government rules and insurance companies, regulations
- Finding qualified office staff
- Reimbursement issues
- Lack of specialists, sub-specialists, hospitalists in area
- Lack of quality emergency care in local communities
- Lack of facilities, quality clinical support and technology
- Inconvenient hours for rural patients who work
Personal Challenges:
- Overlapping roles of physician and friend in a small community creates a lack of privacy.
- Lack of good schools for children, which impact patients, partners and potentially my family, too.
- Lack of employment opportunities for the spouse.
- Lack of entertainment and dining variety, which makes small town communities a difficult sell to new physicians to practice here.
- Lack of academic exchange, additional physician collegiality, coverage for vacations.