Public policymakers and their advisers struggle with the problem of specifying criteria by which health care providers in rural areas are eligible for special consideration in payment policies and for special grant programs. A means of designating places can provide a basis for assistance and can help target public resources for any providers who deliver services in those places.
Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 984350 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4350, USA. kmueller@unmc.edu
