Rural Health
Resources by State: Massachusetts
National Aging and Disability Transportation Center 2023 Innovations Showcase
Offers descriptions, lessons learned, replication advice, and contact information for 14 transportation projects across the country. Projects cover accessibility, coordination, cross jurisdictional boundaries, healthcare access, and technology. Includes rural projects in Virginia and Massachusetts.
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
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Offers descriptions, lessons learned, replication advice, and contact information for 14 transportation projects across the country. Projects cover accessibility, coordination, cross jurisdictional boundaries, healthcare access, and technology. Includes rural projects in Virginia and Massachusetts.
Date: 03/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
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An 'Unseen' Struggle: Addressing Hoarding Disorder in Rural Communities
Discusses the challenges of identifying and addressing hoarding disorder in rural areas, as well as the impact it can have on the ability to age in place. Highlights resources and strategies that can be effective in rural areas to help address this issue.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Discusses the challenges of identifying and addressing hoarding disorder in rural areas, as well as the impact it can have on the ability to age in place. Highlights resources and strategies that can be effective in rural areas to help address this issue.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Maternity Innovation Summit Reports
Findings from a March 2024 Clifton, Texas summit that brought together leaders from six innovative and sustainable rural maternity programs. The site report provides case studies, sharing information on maternity services, staffing, financial strategies, and more. The leader report shares strategies and identifies leadership competencies, values, and character traits that support the leaders' abilities to meet the challenges in providing sustainable rural maternity services in rural communities.
Author(s): Erin E. Sullivan, Benjamin Anderson, Mark Deutchman
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: University of Colorado School of Medicine Rural Program
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Findings from a March 2024 Clifton, Texas summit that brought together leaders from six innovative and sustainable rural maternity programs. The site report provides case studies, sharing information on maternity services, staffing, financial strategies, and more. The leader report shares strategies and identifies leadership competencies, values, and character traits that support the leaders' abilities to meet the challenges in providing sustainable rural maternity services in rural communities.
Author(s): Erin E. Sullivan, Benjamin Anderson, Mark Deutchman
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: University of Colorado School of Medicine Rural Program
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A Qualitative Study of Systems-Level Factors That Affect Rural Obstetric Nurses' Work During Clinical Emergencies
Evaluates systems-level factors affecting rural obstetric nurses and their care for patients experiencing clinical deterioration from interviews with 11 nurses and physicians at rural hospitals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Identifies challenges and opportunities related to resource shortages, cooperation in the workplace, conflicting workplace responsibilities, facility policies and procedures, and more.
Author(s): Samantha L. Bernstein, Maya Piccolo, Elisabeth Grills, Kenneth Catchpole
Citation: The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 2024
Date: 12/2023
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Evaluates systems-level factors affecting rural obstetric nurses and their care for patients experiencing clinical deterioration from interviews with 11 nurses and physicians at rural hospitals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Identifies challenges and opportunities related to resource shortages, cooperation in the workplace, conflicting workplace responsibilities, facility policies and procedures, and more.
Author(s): Samantha L. Bernstein, Maya Piccolo, Elisabeth Grills, Kenneth Catchpole
Citation: The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 2024
Date: 12/2023
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Filling the Gaps: Program Builds Referral and Recovery Services in Western Massachusetts
Features a rural Massachusetts coalition's work to address substance misuse and build sustainable recovery services, with support from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). Discusses youth outreach and engagement, stigma reduction activities, facilitating access to services, and more.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Features a rural Massachusetts coalition's work to address substance misuse and build sustainable recovery services, with support from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). Discusses youth outreach and engagement, stigma reduction activities, facilitating access to services, and more.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Recent Incarceration, Substance Use, Overdose, and Service Use Among People Who Use Drugs in Rural Communities
Compares 2,935 people who use drugs (PWUD) in rural areas of 10 states to evaluate the impact of time since last incarceration on access to treatment and overdose rates. Discusses policy measures that could increase access to and successful completion of treatment for substance use disorders.
Author(s): Daniel B. Hoover, Todd Korthuis, Elizabeth Needham Waddell, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(11), 2342222
Date: 11/2023
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Compares 2,935 people who use drugs (PWUD) in rural areas of 10 states to evaluate the impact of time since last incarceration on access to treatment and overdose rates. Discusses policy measures that could increase access to and successful completion of treatment for substance use disorders.
Author(s): Daniel B. Hoover, Todd Korthuis, Elizabeth Needham Waddell, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(11), 2342222
Date: 11/2023
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Closing the Broadband Infrastructure Gap: State Grant Funds and the Digital Divide
Analyzes Pew Trusts data on awarded broadband grants in 17 states between 2014 and 2020 to determine common characteristics of funded projects, criteria for allocation, and communities reached. Includes discussion of implications for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds and the impact on existing disparities. Offers rural and urban comparisons.
Additional links: Q&A with Pew Trusts, Summary
Author(s): Natassia A. Bravo, Mildred E. Warner
Date: 10/2023
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Analyzes Pew Trusts data on awarded broadband grants in 17 states between 2014 and 2020 to determine common characteristics of funded projects, criteria for allocation, and communities reached. Includes discussion of implications for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds and the impact on existing disparities. Offers rural and urban comparisons.
Additional links: Q&A with Pew Trusts, Summary
Author(s): Natassia A. Bravo, Mildred E. Warner
Date: 10/2023
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Evaluation of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model: Final Report
Evaluates the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which tests the impact of providing financial incentives to home health agencies in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Examines how the financial incentives under the model influenced agency behavior. Describes impacts across key outcomes, including service utilization, quality of care, and patient experience, and examines the model's effects on access to care, health equity, and Medicare spending. Explores whether the model had unique impacts on access to home health care in rural areas.
Additional links: Appendices, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, L&M Policy Research
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Evaluates the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which tests the impact of providing financial incentives to home health agencies in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Examines how the financial incentives under the model influenced agency behavior. Describes impacts across key outcomes, including service utilization, quality of care, and patient experience, and examines the model's effects on access to care, health equity, and Medicare spending. Explores whether the model had unique impacts on access to home health care in rural areas.
Additional links: Appendices, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, L&M Policy Research
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Improving the Social Determinants of Health in Rural America Through Medicaid Section 1115 Waivers
Policy brief discussing how Medicaid Section 1115 waivers can allow states to modify the social determinants of health in rural areas through pilot programs, delivery system reform, or enhanced benefit packages. Highlights existing Section 1115 waiver programs and recently approved and renewed waivers, as well as challenges related to improving health-related social needs and access to services in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to improve health equity in rural areas through Medicaid programs.
Author(s): Alexandra Zimmerman
Date: 07/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Policy brief discussing how Medicaid Section 1115 waivers can allow states to modify the social determinants of health in rural areas through pilot programs, delivery system reform, or enhanced benefit packages. Highlights existing Section 1115 waiver programs and recently approved and renewed waivers, as well as challenges related to improving health-related social needs and access to services in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to improve health equity in rural areas through Medicaid programs.
Author(s): Alexandra Zimmerman
Date: 07/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Small Rural Hospital Helps Build 'Bridge' to Addiction Services with New Mobile Clinic
A case study that describes a behavioral health program in rural Massachusetts that created a bridge team who provides prevention, treatment, and recovery services outside of hospital facilities for those with opioid used disorder (OUD).
Date: 03/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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A case study that describes a behavioral health program in rural Massachusetts that created a bridge team who provides prevention, treatment, and recovery services outside of hospital facilities for those with opioid used disorder (OUD).
Date: 03/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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