CHI releases report about
Colorado's rural dentist workforce
The Colorado Health Institute has released an assessment of
Colorado's rural dental health workforce. Done under contract with the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the
assessment is based on findings from CHI’s 2006 survey of licensed
Colorado dentists and focuses on a number of issues related to the
supply of and demand for dentists in rural areas of the state.
Highlights of the findings include:
- The rural dental workforce in Colorado is aging—47% of dental
responders practicing in a rural area were 55 years and older
compared to 37% of the dental workforce practicing in an urban area;
- About 92% of dentists practicing in a rural area were male
compared to 82% of dentists practicing in an urban area;
- A majority of dentists (both urban and rural) reported not
accepting Medicaid patients—68% rural and 74% urban. Of those who
have Medicaid patients in their practice, a
large percentage reported not accepting new Medicaid patients (73%
rural and 71% of urban practicing dentists);
- Dentists practicing in rural areas appear to be much more likely
to see Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) children than their urban
counterparts—52% rural versus less than 30% of dentists practicing
in an urban area. Similarly, 48% of dentists in rural areas reported
accepting new CHP+ patients compared to only 28% of dentists in an
urban practice;
- The majority of dentists responding to the survey own their
dental practice—80% of dentists practicing in both rural and urban
areas; finally,
- There were no significant income differences between dentists
practicing either in rural and urban areas.
The paper summarizes these and other findings and presents policy
options for increasing the number of dental providers choosing a
practice in a rural area of Colorado.
CLICK HERE to download the report.
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