Rural medical care: an experimental delivery system.

The experimental medical care delivery system has been operational since February, 1969. An average of over 200 patient visits per month were managed at the clinic during the past year. The average visit cost is $23.00, which is competitive with cost rates at neighborhood health centers. The average time per patient visit has been approximately 1 hr and 20 min. Of persons using the clinic, the largest number are women of childbearing age. Elderly patients have visited the clinic most frequently. Illness problems have accounted for the majority of patient visits. The program represents a cooperative effort between a rural community and a university to solve a problem of national interest. The implementation of this program has provided the opportunity to operationalize the family nurse practitioner concept in a system of medical care delivery. The feasibility of providing high quality medical care in a rural community by extending medical resources concentrated in an urban area has been demonstrated. This type of delivery system does provide a viable alternative for extending medical care to rural communities. A clinic manned by paramedical personnel offers the urban medical center along with concerned physicians the opportunity to extend their resources to rural areas which have been unable to attract and retain physicians.