Date of Conferral

2-12-2025

Degree

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Laurie Latvis

Abstract

Rural hospitals experience challenges in supplying the physician workforce, leading to poor organizational and population health outcomes. The purpose of this integrative review was to determine factors that affect physician recruitment and retention in rural hospitals and provide strategies for administrators to support sufficient physician staffing. The review question was used to identify effective strategies to improve physician recruitment and retention in rural hospitals. An integrative review was completed using empirical and nonempirical research published between 2019 and 2024. The results of the literature demonstrated components affecting physician motivation and job satisfaction. Five main themes surfaced: (a) professional education, (b) compensation and benefits, (c) working conditions, (d) community outreach, and (e) organizational financial performance. The 13 subthemes included (a) rural medical training, (b) physicians with a rural background, (c) competitive wages, (d) loan repayment program, (e) support services, (f) administrative time, (g) work hours, (h) workload, (i) professional development, (j) mentorship, (k) family-unit opportunity, (l) physician-community engagement, and (m) mergers and affiliations. Recommendations include building rural training curricula and internship opportunities within hospitals, supporting physicians through peer-reviewed programs and continued medical education, providing innovative work schedules, allocating resources to support the spouse and family of a physician, and identifying strategies to make evidence-based decisions to reach financial stability. Addressing these components can help health administrators develop effective recruitment and retention strategies while supporting organizational success and optimizing population health outcomes to promote positive social change.

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