Orthopedic Surgery in Rural American Hospitals: A Survey of Rural Hospital Administrators

Autor/in	Weichel, Derek
Titel	Orthopedic Surgery in Rural American Hospitals: A Survey of Rural Hospital Administrators
Quelle	In: Journal of Rural Health, 28 (2012) 2, S.137-141 (5 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0890-765X
DOI	10.1111/j.1748-0361.2011.00379.x
Schlagwörter	Medical Services; Medical Education; Hospitals; Surgery; Rural Areas; Surveys; Physicians; Recruitment; Administrator Attitudes; Travel + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Arzt; Medizinische Ausbildung; Krankengymnast; Krankenhaus; Chirurgie; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Survey; Umfrage; Befragung; Physician; Doctor; Recruiting; Rekrutierung; Travelling; Reisen; Reise
Abstract	Rural American residents prefer to receive their medical care locally. Lack of specific medical services in the local community necessitates travel to a larger center which is less favorable. This study was done to identify how rural hospitals choose to provide orthopedic surgical services to their communities. Methods: All hospitals in 5 states located in communities that met the criteria for a rural town according to the Rural Urban Commuting Area codes were included. A survey with topics including community and hospital demographics, orthopedic surgical workforce and demand, surgical services, and the perceived benefit of orthopedic services was sent to the hospital administrators. Results: Of the 223 rural hospitals surveyed, 145 completed the survey. Of those completing the survey, 30% had at least one full-time orthopedic surgeon, 25% did not provide any orthopedic surgical services, 65% never had an orthopedic surgeon on ER call, 33% were recruiting an orthopedic surgeon, 52% stated that it is more difficult to recruit an orthopedic surgeon vs a general surgeon, and 71% of the administrators acknowledged a need for additional orthopedic surgical services in their community. For those hospitals that did not have a full-time orthopedic surgeon, members of those communities traveled a mean distance of 55 miles for emergency orthopedic surgical care as reported by the hospital administrators. Conclusions: There are many rural communities that have limited access to orthopedic surgical services. While many of the rural hospital administrators feel that there is a need for additional orthopedic surgical services in their communities, it is difficult to recruit orthopedic surgeons to these areas. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10