ABSTRACT
Rural health clinics (RHCs) ranges anywhere from a permanent structure to mobile clinics. The first major federal policy-enabled expansion of rural health services occurred in the late 1970s. The Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977 was enacted to address an inadequate supply of physicians serving Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients in rural areas and to increase the utilization of nonphysician practitioners such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural areas. It’s important to note that RHCs do not receive any federal or state funding outside of their services payment reimbursement unless they apply for grants. As a result, rural Americans are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than their urban counterparts. RHCs are focused on the quality of care provided as they depend on patients coming back to keep their clinics in business.
