Potential Solutions to Improve Access to Care in Underserved Communities

Improving Access to Care in Underserved Communities
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Improving Access to Care in Underserved Communities
One of the major challenges facing healthcare in the United States is a significant shortage of healthcare providers. There are more than 6700 primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HSPAs) across the country (NCSL, 2017). HSPAs indicate a shortage of health care provides based on geographic location, population or facilities. The HSPA data indicate that only 55% of the national need for primary care is met. Rural and underserved communities are the most affected and face challenges accessing healthcare services. The shortage of healthcare providers makes it difficult to access timely and appropriate care, leading to negative health status and creating significant costs for states.
Several strategies have been devised to address the shortage which focuses on expanding and leveraging the workforce to better serve community needs, training of medical students in rural and underserved communities, the introduction of free clinics and healthcare organizations expanding their services to include mobile health clinics. State recruitment and retention policies aim to increase the number of healthcare providers by bringing in as well as retaining them in underserved areas to increase access to care. Health career pathway programs and scholarship and loan repayment programs the most commonly used methods. It is believed that healthcare professional students exposed to the underserved population as part of the g...