“Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the U.S. and it’s 40% more prevalent in rural areas, according to a recent American Heart Association journal.”
It takes a special skill set to recruit cardiologists to rural areas because … surprise, SURPRISE! … it is a lot different to live in a rural area rather than a major city. Provider Solutions & Development (PS&D) is a medical search firm that has more than 300 openings. Not only do the need for doctors need to be matched up, but so do the locations where the docs are willing to live.
After looking at all 3,143 U.S. counties, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that over 46% lacked a cardiologist. Worse yet, another study showed that the gap between urban and rural mortality has increased by 170% during the last 20 years. Even basic care by a primary physician is harder to get in rural areas, with the counties that have the fewest physicians and the highest death rates.