New healthcare publication to be released

Mississippi State University

STARKVILLE — A new publication offering information on access to healthcare in Mississippi’s 82 counties will be released this month by a research center based at Mississippi State University (MSU).

“Listening to Mississippi’s Needs: Assessing Our Health Workforce 2010″ was published by the Mississippi Center for Health Workforce, located at MSU’s Social Science Research Center.

Lynne Cossman, an associate professor of sociology at MSU and principle investigator for the Mississippi Center for Health Workforce, said the annual assessment, scheduled for release Jan. 26, compares data of different counties in categories such as physician-patient ratios, population demographics, insurance rates and admissions to hospitals, among other information.

Cossman said this publication is designed as a reference guide for healthcare planners, providers and others associated with this field in the Magnolia State.

Cossman and others at the Social Science Research Center joined with colleagues in MSU’s sociology department to compile data for the book.