It’s no secret that rural Americans face significantly worse health outcomes than those who live in urban areas—according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rural residents have higher rates of cigarette smoking, obesity, poverty, and unintentional injury deaths than their city and suburban counterparts. At the heart of this disparity lies limited access to healthcare—not only do rural communities face a crisis deepened by a looming doctor shortage that’s projected to reach 86,000 by 2036, but they are also dealing with a shrinking number of emergency medicine physicians and hospitals to house them. As the gap in healthcare access widens, a promising solution emerges: emergency medicine locums. Read on to learn more about the emergency medicine doctor shortage in rural America and how locum tenens physicians can fill critical gaps.
The Rural Emergency Medicine Crisis
The healthcare landscape in rural America is facing a dire emergency of its own. Between 2010 and 2021, 136 rural hospitals were forced to close their doors according to the American Medical Association (AMA), leaving many communities without immediate access to emergency care. This alarming trend is compounded by a severe shortage of emergency medicine physicians in rural areas.
A national study published in the “Annals of Emergency Medicine” in 2020 paints a stark picture of this disparity. Of the 48,835 clinically active emergency physicians in the United States, a staggering 92 percent (44,908) practice in urban areas. Only 8 percent (3,927) serve in rural communities, a decline from 10 percent in 2008. This imbalance leaves rural areas critically underserved.
Another contributing factor to this crisis is the aging rural emergency physician workforce. The national study revealed that nearly all (96 percent) of recent emergency medicine residency or fellowship graduates choose to practice in urban areas. In contrast, rural emergency physicians are approaching retirement age, with over 70 percent having completed their medical training more than two decades ago. This age gap is significant: while the median age for an urban emergency physician is 50, it rises to 58 in large rural communities and 62 in smaller rural areas.
This combination of hospital closures, physician shortages, and an aging workforce creates a perfect storm, threatening the availability and quality of emergency care in rural America.
Emergency Medicine Locums as a Solution
Emergency medicine locum tenens physicians offer a promising solution to the rural healthcare crisis. These temporary medical professionals can provide critical support to understaffed rural hospitals and emergency departments. Here’s how emergency medicine locums can address the rural doctor shortage:
- Immediate Relief: Locum tenens physicians can quickly fill gaps in staffing, ensuring continuous emergency care coverage in rural areas.
- Flexibility: Rural hospitals can adjust their staffing levels based on seasonal demands or unexpected shortages, maintaining quality care without the long-term commitment of full-time hires.
- Expertise: Locum tenens often bring diverse experience from various healthcare settings, potentially introducing new skills and perspectives to rural facilities.
- Cost-Effective: For hospitals struggling financially, locum tenens can be a more economical option than maintaining a full-time staff, especially in areas with fluctuating patient volumes.
- Burnout Prevention: By providing relief to overworked permanent staff, locum tenens can help prevent burnout among rural emergency physicians.
- Quality of Care: Locum tenens physicians ensure that rural patients receive timely, high-quality emergency care, potentially improving health outcomes in these underserved areas.
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