Employment retention of health care providers in frontier areas of Alaska.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: describe the length of employment of health care providers in rural Alaska; assess whether there are differences in length of employment among community health aides, medical doctors, and nurses; and determine whether provider length of employment is significantly increased following implementation of telemedicine.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective cohort study of length of employment among health professionals in rural Alaska, and identified the cohort based on current employment status of community health aides, medical doctors, and nurses.

Methods: Employment data were collected from four Alaska Native regional health corporations.