The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) is a wealth of information for all things health-related in Colorado. Recently CHI conducted studies focused on both rural dentists and rural physicians. Christine Demont-Heinrich, Interim Workforce Program Manager, created a presentation highlighting some of the key findings from the CHI research, which include:
Of the 711 rural physicians who completed the survey, approximately 17% stated they do not accept Medicaid. The majority of physicians who did not accept Medicaid (98%) reported that reimbursement rates were too low.
The average age of both rural physicians and dentists is 51 years.
14% of rural physicians and 8% of rural dentists plan to leave their practice in the next year.
Nine rural counties have no licensed dentists.
