RENO - A newly released University of Nevada School of Medicine report documents the diverse features of health and health care in rural and frontier counties of Nevada.
The "Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book - 2013 edition" contains a wide range of current information on the demography, population health, and the health care delivery system in rural and frontier regions of Nevada. It includes important data for public policy makers, health care professionals and administrators, rural health care advocates, and, importantly, the residents of rural and frontier Nevada.
"The primary purpose of the data book is to provide the health care community with the most comprehensive and accurate county-level data on population health trends and the health care system in Nevada," said co-author John Packham, Ph.D., director of health policy research at the School of Medicine. "The data book should also be valuable to anyone interested in learning more about health and health care in Nevada."
A few of the many interesting findings presented in the report include:
• Nevada's 14 rural and frontier counties have a combined population of 283,314 or 10.3 percent of the state's population - these counties cover 95,431 square miles or 86.9 percent of the state's land mass
• The average distance from a rural hospital to the nearest incorporated town is 46 miles and the average distance to the nearest tertiary care hospital in Reno or Las Vegas is 115 miles
• Over the past two decades, the state's rural population has grown by 107,337 (64.9 percent), the rural Hispanic population has increased by 26,910 (174.2 percent), and the rural elderly population has increased by 26,925 (151.5 percent)
• In 30 of 40 health care occupations licensed by the State of Nevada, the per capita number of professionals is greater in urban counties than rural - for example, there are 182.2 physicians per 100,000 residents in urban areas of the state as compared to only 76.5 physicians per 100,000 residents in rural areas
• All 14 rural and frontier counties in Nevada are federally-designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas
• 66.9 percent of the state's rural population is in a Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area as well as 32.6 percent of the urban population
• 56.5 percent of the state's rural population is in a Dental Health Professional Shortage Area as well as 33.1 percent of the urban population
• While there are high levels of uninsured Nevadans across all areas of the state, the percent of the population under age 65 that is uninsured ranges from 20.9 percent in Douglas County to 33.5 percent in Esmeralda County
• 18.3 percent of the state's rural population is enrolled in the Medicare program versus 12.8 percent in urban areas
• The state's 15 rural hospitals employ 2,120 with a combined payroll of $124 million
The Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book - 2013 Edition is divided into five major sections containing the most current data on:
• Demographic characteristics of rural and frontier Nevada, including recent population estimates and projections
• The social and economic characteristics of rural and frontier Nevada, including data on income, poverty, and educational attainment
• Population health status and health insurance coverage
• The health care workforce in rural and frontier Nevada, including numerous per capita data for many licensed health care occupations by county
• Health care resources and the economics of health care in rural and frontier Nevada
This expanded edition of the data book includes new multi-year information from 2000 to 2010 data on income, poverty, SNAP, education, pregnancy rates, birth rates, crude mortality rates, age-adjusted mortality in rural versus urban areas of the state. Current and projected employment reflects one page industry data and health occupations have been reorganized and alphabetized into five major groupings: primary care, nursing, dental, mental health, and allied health.
The report was prepared by Tabor Griswold and Packham at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.[[In-content Ad]]
