Dr. Kevin Bagley (Cohort 2019) at the Medicaid Leadership Innovation Strategies Conference in Alexandria, VA

Not all problems with access to care are created equal. The issues encountered by rural communities are often different from those in urban and suburban communities and may even be somewhat unique to specific communities. So, the policies and programs we implement in urban and suburban communities may not work in rural communities - in fact, they may even be counterproductive.

It was great to be part of a panel at the Medicaid Leadership Innovation Strategies Conference in Alexandria VA this week. We discussed the notion that many of the problems we encounter when trying to address rural access to care issues are related to infrastructure, demographics and economic development as much as they are to healthcare. Mitigating issues with access to care for rural communities requires thoughtful, collaborative, and innovative solutions that are driven by feedback from those communities.

Thank you to fellow panelists Chris Reiten, Tammy Mihm, Jonathan Dayton and Jim Milanowski - it was a great discussion! And thank you Pamela Masselli for the opportunity to participate!