Rural-Urban Differences in All-Cause and Disease Specific Mortality and Physician Availability: A County-Level Longitudinal Analysis, 2015–2025

This study will identify communities where physician workforce declines coincide with worsening mortality outcomes. The study asks three primary questions:

1. How have all-cause, cardiovascular, diabetes-related, and cancer mortality rates changed across rural and urban counties from 2015 to 2025?
2. What is the relationship between county-level physician supply and mortality outcomes over time?
3. Do these relationships differ across the rural-urban continuum?

By the end of the study, we anticipate being able to describe national patterns and trends in mortality, identify counties experiencing the greatest combination of workforce shortages and adverse health outcomes, quantify associations between physician supply and mortality, and determine whether these associations vary between rural and urban communities.