Competencies for rural health administrators.

Rural healthcare and rural health administration have been changing rapidly. An evolution in policies, regulations and reimbursement practices combine to make the skills required of the new health service administration graduate significantly different from those required even a few years ago. This paper forms an initial articulation of core competencies required for rural health administrators. It focuses on health administration education programs that focus on or offer learning experiences in rural health administration. To competently address the unique characteristics of rural populations and facilities, administrators should demonstrate capability in multiple areas. These include unique applications of health management tools to rural environments, understanding designated reimbursement mechanisms for financing rural facilities, and development of leadership skills for dealing with multi-disciplinary management teams and evaluation of small organizations.