In this episode, host Stacey Richter revisits a conversation with Nikki King, CEO of Alliance Health Centers, discussing the critical issues facing rural hospitals and healthcare systems. They delve into the impacts of Medicaid cuts, the financial struggles of rural hospitals reliant on commercial insurance, and potential solutions like freestanding emergency rooms, telehealth, and the expanded roles of nurse practitioners.

The conversation also covers the complexities of maternity care and mental health services in rural areas, emphasizing the urgent need for systemic reforms to ensure equitable access to healthcare.

=== LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP470

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08:14 How dire is the rural hospital situation right now?

08:33 How could freestanding ERs be a potential solution for rural hospitals?

09:56 Advice from CHQPR: Rural hospitals should not be forced to eliminate inpatient care.

11:22 Why is broadband a roadblock to telehealth as a solution for rural health access?

14:52 What are other potential rural health access solutions?

15:37 The "hot potato" of nurse practitioners in the healthcare world.

16:34 "The number of residencies for physicians each year is not increasing, but the population … is increasing."

20:28 EP312 with Douglas Eby, MD, MPH, CPE, of the Nuka System of Care.

22:00 What's the issue with maternity care in rural America?

24:09 "As healthcare becomes more and more specialized, [the] ability to treat high-risk cases is better, but access gets worse."

27:57 How is mental health care affected in rural communities?

28:29 "Rural communities are trying very hard to hang on to what they have."

29:52 "When you look at the one market plan that's available in a rural community, you probably can't afford it."

31:37 What's the single biggest challenge to moving to a model that incentivizes keeping people healthy?

32:32 "The easiest low-hanging fruit … is having national Medicaid and have that put under the same hood as Medicare."