Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Emerging Strategies to Ensure Access to Health Care Services: Indian Health Services Strategy
Outlines federal policy solutions and facility-level strategies to improve care coordination between Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities and other healthcare providers.
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Veterans' Health Care: Preliminary Observations on Veterans' Access to Choice Program Care
Reports on the Veterans Choice Program, which allows veterans to receive care from non-VA providers if certain conditions are met. Outlines the process the VA has established for scheduling appointments, discusses what is known about the timeliness of appointments for routine and urgent care, and lays out plans to improve the timeliness of the Choice Program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Evaluation of the Health Care Innovation Awards: Community Resource Planning, Prevention, and Monitoring: Third Annual Report
Third annual evaluations of 24 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on enhancing care coordination and healthcare access through the use of health information technology, care coordination/patient navigation, and health promotion and prevention services. Discusses awardees' progress and impact over the 3-year funding period from 2012 to 2015. Includes profiles of rural-focused projects, as well as projects serving rural and urban areas.
Additional links: Addendum, August 2017
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RTI International
view details
Regional Transportation Planning Organization Peer Exchange Summary
Summarizes a September 2016 peer learning exchange of eleven rural regional transportation planning representatives. Discusses the role of rural clinics and senior centers as gathering places for public engagement related to transportation. Describes public health involvement in safety planning, with Eagle County, Colorado as an example.
Author(s): Carrie Kissel
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Development Organizations
view details
Women's Health Care: The Experiences and Behaviors of Rural and Urban Lesbians in the USA
Results of a national study of 895 urban and rural lesbians, highlighting healthcare disparities in terms of access to preventive care, screening, and treatment. Features demographic statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Author(s): K. Nikki Barefoot, Jacob C. Warren, K. Bryant Smalley
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 17(1), 3875
Date: 03/2017
Type: Document
view details
Bringing Produce to the People: Implementing a Social Marketing Food Access Intervention in Rural Food Deserts
Evaluates the implementation of a mobile farmer's market in California that was intended to increase access to fresh produce in a rural area. Discusses the program, evaluation methods used, and lessons learned.
Author(s): A. Susana Ramirez, Lillian K. Diaz Rios, Zulema Valdez, Erendira Estrada, Ariana Ruiz
Citation: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49(2), 166-174
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
view details
Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Rural OsteoPorosis Evaluation Service (ROPES)
Highlights the Rural Osteoporosis Evaluation Service (ROPES) as a promising practice for evaluating and treating osteoporosis in rural veterans. Features implementation information and results from the Durham VAMC in North Carolina.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
view details
Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Osteoporosis Risk Assessment Using Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool (OST) and Other Interventions at Rural Facilities
Outlines the Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool (OST) as a promising practice for assessing osteoporosis risk in rural veteran populations. Features examples in three Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
view details
Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: GRECC Connect Project: Connecting Rural Providers with Geriatric Specialists Through Telemedicine
Describes the efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs to support the rural elderly veteran population through implementation of telemedicine services originating at Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs).
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
view details
Veterans' Location in Health Professional Shortage Areas: Implications for Access to Care and Workforce Supply
Details a study on veterans that live in Health Professional Shortage Areas and their access to care. Focuses on the workforce demands of serving this population.
Author(s): Jamie Mihoko Doyle, Robin A. Streeter
Citation: Health Services Research, 52(s1), 459-480
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
view details