Rural Hospitals

II. Introduction to your problem or issue. What problem or challenge is the focus of your analysis?  This should include a clear description of the problem, so that the reader can understand the context and challenge you are describing, as well as, the point of view you are using to address it:

Nearly 25 percent of the US population lives in rural communities, however only 10 percent of US physicians practice in these same communities. This relative disparity of physicians in rural America is a long-standing problem that has persisted as physicians continue to preferentially settle in metropolitan, suburban, and other non-rural areas.  The last four decades have seen a variety of strategies introduced to ameliorate this problem and promote the selection of rural practice by physicians, however, the disproportionate supply of physicians in urban to rural areas remains despite these efforts. [RHRC_WP49_Geyman, p. 9]

This shortage creates a low rural physician to population ratio, leading to rural hospitals that are often unable to meet the health care demands of their communities. These communities remain underserved compared to their urban counterparts, resulting in 28% of rural citizens being in either fair or poor health (citation).  A combination of factors have led to this disparity between urban and rural hospital systems. There are structural problems in the medical training and selection process, as well as problems internal to the hospital systems. The culmination of declining numbers of applicable physicians, cultural and behavioral changes in the training pool, and failure of rural hospital upper management to break free from traditional incentives have led to a trend of worsening rural representation

In this analysis, we will address the challenge of “how CEOs of rural health systems can attract and retain quality physicians.” To perform this analysis, we will examine the attraction/selection and retention processes within the scope of industries facing similar issues as well as the rural health systems specifically. In addressing these areas of concern, we will utilize the Social Information Processing Model (“SIPM”) to examine how physician’s perceptions of practicing in rural communities are formed, and how socialization plays a role in physicians’ choice of practice setting. We will also look at the motivations of the current workforce, how they have evolved, and how we can leverage them to attract and retain better physicians. Based on our exploration of the problems and traditional solutions, we will propose several unique ideas to create more favorable opportunities in attracting, selecting, and maintaining physicians. We will conclude with a set of broader recommendations applicable to MBA students and their future management.