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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Bringing Care Where it is Needed: A Rural Maryland Perspective
Presents a report on the different care delivery models helping to improve access to healthcare in rural Maryland. Discusses three programs using different approaches to deliver care to people in rural communities.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maryland Rural Health Association
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Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Interdisciplinary Clinical Video - Telehealth for Geriatrics and Dementia
Highlights the development, implementation, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary telehealth program designed to help caregivers provide coordinated care for aging rural veterans suffering from dementia. Discusses the interdisciplinary team model comprised of social workers, geriatricians, primary care providers, and rural caregivers coordinating to maintain a uniform level of care. Includes outcomes regarding the increase of access to education and caregiver support, as well as the ability of providers to prescribe medication to rural patients.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Health, United States, 2016: With Chartbook on Long-term Trends in Health
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access, and expenditures. Includes data on rural areas - see index under "metropolitan/nonmetropolitan data." 2016 edition focuses on long-term trends in health, with 114 tables focused on health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, healthcare resources, and expenditures.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Mental Health Services in Greater Minnesota
A discussion of mobile crisis teams in the treatment of and access to mental healthcare in rural Minnesota. Includes information about community-based services and barriers to care such as workforce shortages, variable population rates, and impacts on law enforcement officials. County-by-county data and statistics for the state are also provided.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Policy and Development
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Assessing Diabetes and Factors Associated with Foregoing Medical Care among Persons with Diabetes: Disparities Facing American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic, Low Income, and Southern Adults in the U.S. (2011-2015)
Identifies trends in care of and prevalence of diabetes in terms of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and explores individual and community factors related to diabetes and diabetics' unmet medical needs. Features statistics on percentages of adults diagnosed with diabetes from 2011-2015 and distribution of diabetes and foregone medical care, with breakdowns including race or ethnicity, income, and levels of rurality.
Author(s): Samuel D. Towne, Jr., Jane Bolin, Alva Ferdinand, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(5), 464
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
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Tuberculosis And Rural Health Care In America
Episode of WBUR's On Point radio program, featuring discussion of a tuberculosis outbreak in rural Perry county, Alabama. Describes attempts to screen and treat low-income patients, despite many residents' mistrust of the medical profession. Panelists include the author of a recent Harper's Magazine article about tuberculosis in the Black Belt, a Perry County doctor, a University of Alabama professor of rural medicine, and a healthcare reporter from the Los Angeles Times.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Audio
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Projecting Demand for the Services of Primary Care Doctors
Estimates the expected growth in demand for primary care medical services in the U.S. between 2013 and 2023. Projections are based on an analysis of historical trends between 2003 and 2013, and factor in the following variables: population growth, population age, health insurance coverage status, and other sources of growth in volume and intensity. Examines legislative and non-legislative ways to increase the supply of primary care services, including in rural areas and facilities.
Author(s): Noelia Duchovny, Sam Trachtman, Ellen Werble
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Budget Office
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Mountains, Plains, Cities, Schools: An Analysis of Colorado's Rural and Urban School-Based Health Centers
Examines important aspects of Colorado's school-based health centers (SBHCs). Includes information on program growth, funding sources, populations served, and service offerings. Uses statewide statistics to compare urban versus rural SBHCs and illustrate how SBHCs help fill critical healthcare gaps within the state.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Health Institute
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Changes in the Supply of Physicians with a DEA DATA Waiver to Prescribe Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
Data brief describing changes in access to waivered physicians from 2012 to 2016. Features a county-level map and statistics with breakdowns by urban areas and three levels of rural areas.
Author(s): C. Holly A. Andrilla, Cynthia Coulthard, Eric H. Larson
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Lessons Learned: A Rural Case Study - Challenges Increasing Access to Dental Care Among Rural Veterans
Details the referral process initiated by the Grand Island Dental Outpatient Team in Nebraska for rural veterans who are ineligible for VA dental coverage to receive basic treatment from community dentists. Discusses some of the challenges to designing and implementing the program, such as establishing new partnerships with local dentists, adhering to a sustainable staffing plan, and pursuing data collection and analysis for measuring outcomes, among other factors.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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