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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Telehealth Parity Laws
Policy brief discussing federal and state activities related to telehealth, as well as Medicaid and private insurer reimbursement for telehealth services. Identifies the arguments in favor of and against paying for telehealth at parity with in-person care. Discusses the role telehealth can play in rural access to healthcare.
Citation: Health Affairs
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
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Remedy for the Rural Opioid Epidemic: Leaders Discuss Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment in Primary Care
Summarizes a meeting focused on understanding the opioid challenges in rural Northern California and identifying potential solutions. Provides maps highlighting opioid overdose death rates by county and the availability of licensed narcotic treatment programs.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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Spatial Access to Primary Care Providers in Appalachia Evaluating Current Methodology
Determines the spatial access to primary care physicians and compares access to care between urban and rural Appalachian counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
Author(s): Joseph Donohoe, Vince Marshall, Xi Tan, et al.
Citation: Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, 7(3), 149-158
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
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The Texas Mental Health Workforce: Continuing Challenges and Sensible Strategies
Policy brief featuring a report on the mental healthcare workforce in Texas, including a comparison of rural and urban counties. Discusses barriers to workforce expansion and strategies for drawing more mental health providers to the state.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
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Integrated Care in a Frontier Community
Examines the Southeast Health Group (SHG) in La Junta, Colorado, which coordinates physical and behavioral health using patient-centered, wellness-based care coordination to empower patients and promote self-directed care. Focuses on hiring providers who share SHG's philosophy of care, using community resources, and engaging peer support specialists.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Families in Crisis: The Human Service Implications of Rural Opioid Misuse
Presents findings and policy recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services' 2016 meeting with rural residents, healthcare providers, and stakeholders regarding the impact and effects of opioid use disorders on rural families. Topics addressed include drug overdose and death, conflict with partners and children, emotional disturbance, adverse health risks, and related impacts on employment and economic sustainability.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Alternative Models to Preserving Access to Emergency Care
Explores proposals for maintaining timely access to emergency and other basic healthcare services in rural communities that may not be able to support a full-service hospital, including frontier extended stay clinics and free-standing emergency departments. Identifies models of care and various ideologies for the Secretary and the Department of Health and Human Services to consider when evaluating policy options.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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What Works? Strategies to Improve Rural Health
A guide for rural community health improvement. Explains how to find strategies that are likely to be effective. Identifies interventions related to health behaviors, healthcare access and quality, social and economic factors, and the physical environment.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
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Social Factors Affecting Pediatric Oral Health in North Dakota
Presents the findings of surveys given to North Dakota children and youth in grade school through high school to determine their knowledge of, and resources to practice, good oral hygiene. Results were tabulated by race and address disparities in the frequency of brushing, the consumption of sugary beverages, and access to oral healthcare supplies.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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Colonoscopy Access and Utilization - Rural Disparities in the Carolinas, 2001-2010
Describes the geographic distribution of colonoscopy providers, the utilization rate for colonoscopies in urban and rural populations, and the influence of the availability of colonoscopy providers on patients when seeking care in their local area for North and South Carolina using ambulatory surgery discharge data for colonoscopies from 2001-2010.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Author(s): Jan M. Eberth, Michele Josey, Tushar Trivedi, James Hibbert, Janice C. Probst
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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