Health officials in Arizona are implementing key changes statewide to improve healthcare access for residents in its most rural regions — which the state has a higher percentage of compared to other areas throughout the country.
On average, 14 percent of the U.S. population lives in a rural area, but in Arizona, that number jumps to 25 percent — outweighing the national average. Research has found that individuals in rural areas often face barriers to accessing healthcare due to a combination of three factors: "affordability, availability, and willingness," according to the USDA's Economic Research Service. In fact, the more rural an area is, the fewer healthcare resources are available, which may be unsurprising, but is a driving factor behind the Arizona Department of Health Services' recent initiatives to improve upon it.
The state also faces national health issues including declining primary care physicians in certain areas and a nursing shortage. These issues are further complicated by its large rural population. Currently, 40 percent of its population lives in areas designated as "Health Professional Shortage Areas" or "medically underserved."
The state's department of health has set out to tackle these issues from multiple angles by implementing two key programs:
- State Loan Repayment Programs — This program is "aimed at promoting the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals by repaying their qualifying educational loans," which requires a two-year minimum commitment to providing primary care in rural areas of the state.
- Arizona Resource Equity and Access Coordination Hub — This program launched in December 2022 and allows hospitals to use a "voluntary, free 24/7 service to coordinate acute medical care transfers" in the event of overload or capacity. So far, 1,000 patients have been transferred to eligible hospitals to receive care which allows the "referring facility team members to focus on care."
"These programs and initiatives alone won’t solve Arizona’s long-standing crisis, but they do allow for space to understand and address health disparities uniquely impacting rural and underserved Arizonans," the release states.
The department also noted that increasing diversity of healthcare providers statewide is a key priority because "the healthcare workforce must be representative of the communities they serve" and "it also builds trust between patients and providers."