Evaluation of medical center support for rural physicians.
Professional isolation remains a problem for rural physicians. To address the problem, a university medical center established a Physician Support Office (PSO). The PSO offered rural physicians toll-free telephone access to patient referral, patient follow-up, library reference, and drug information services. A newsletter was also published. The service was evaluated using a quasi-experimental design. Physicians in the experimental area felt there was improvement in several medical center services, compared to physicians in the control area. Provision of library services, referral services and a newsletter contributed significantly to the usefulness of the PSO program. Nevertheless, the PSO did not produce a significant improvement in rural physicians' overall feeling of general medical center support.
D001061:Appalachian Region; D003142:Communication; D003625:Data Collection; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D007629:Kentucky; D010820:Physicians; D011364:Professional Practice; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012424:Rural Population; D013689:Telephone