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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health information technology

Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health External Quality Review: FY 2021-22 Statewide Report
Reports on an external review of all 56 county Mental Health Plans (MHPs) that are contracted to provide specialty mental health services to California Medicaid beneficiaries, including breakdowns for rural areas. Discusses challenges meeting demand and recruiting and retaining healthcare providers. Highlights access to services through telehealth; timeliness of providing service and tracking timeliness; quality management; and information systems.
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organization: California Department of Health Care Services
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The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff
Examines how the United States delivers, finances, regulates, and measures the quality of nursing home care. Discusses the nursing home care landscape, quality measurement and improvement, workforce, safety, payment and financing, and health information technology. Identifies seven goals and supporting recommendations that provide a framework for a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of care in nursing homes.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Evidence Map: Implementation Factors Influencing the Transition from Emergency to Outpatient Care Settings
Summarizes available research on interventions to improve transitions from emergency department to outpatient care settings across health systems and identifies key findings. Discusses common intervention barriers, including rural residence and transportation, and facilitators.
Additional links: Supplemental Materials
Author(s): Karli Kondo, Johanna Anderson, Sarah Young, Rachel Ward
Date: 12/2021
Sponsoring organization: VA Health Systems Research, Office of Research & Development
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Understanding the "Tool-ish-ness" of Telehealth: Q&A with Dr. Jonathan Neufeld
An interview with clinical psychologist and program director for the Great Plains Telehealth Resource & Assistance Center, Dr. Jonathan Neufeld. Discusses the role of telehealth in healthcare delivery. Describes how telecommunications tools can be used by providers to bring quality care to rural areas.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 12/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Final CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule
Fact sheet addressing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policies for Medicare beginning on January 1, 2022. Includes sections on telehealth services, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, audio-only services, communications technology based services, Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics, and additional policies.
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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How States Use ARPA Funds to Support Telehealth, Technology and Data Infrastructure
Interactive map displaying how states used a one-time increase in the federal medical assistance program (FMAP) for Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) through March 31, 2022, to support telehealth service delivery, technology-based innovations, and data infrastructure building opportunities.
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Rural Nevada EMS Capacity Assessment
Presents results of a 2020 survey of 36 rural EMS agencies, addressing transporting patients, funding and billing, workforce and recruitment issues, health information technology, and more.
Author(s): Laima Etchegoyhen, John Packham, Tabor Griswold, Jeannine Warner
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: Nevada Health Workforce Research Center
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Restoring Access to Maternity Care in Rural America
Examines regional partnerships to build rural access to maternity care through hub-and-spoke models of education and support from urban healthcare organizations to rural maternity providers, investments in telehealth, and remote monitoring systems. Discusses barriers to maternity care access in rural areas and highlights local examples of maternal health provider networks, investments in the rural maternity workforce, and policy implications of developing rural maternity care.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein
Date: 09/2021
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Challenges to Public Health Reporting Experienced by Non-Federal Acute Care Hospitals, 2019
Data brief examining public health reporting among acute care hospitals, including rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Outlines challenges with the exchange of electronic health information, such as lack of capacity to exchange electronically, interface issues, and differing vocabulary standards. Compares challenges faced by hospitals by size, CAH status, rural/urban, and independent/system affiliated and offers state-level maps of percent of hospitals reporting specific challenges.
Author(s): Chelsea Richwine, Carmelita Marshall, Christian Johnson, Vaishali Patel
Date: 09/2021
Sponsoring organization: Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Use of Electronic Health Records to Manage Tobacco Screening and Treatment in Rural Primary Care
Study examining the benefits of using electronic health records (EHR) in addressing tobacco dependence by primary care providers, comparing rural and urban data from the 2012-2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Discusses the utility of EHR and barriers to EHR adoption in rural practices, and offers data tables covering patient characteristics and statistics related to primary care visits and smoking cessation.
Author(s): Jean A. Talbot, Erika C. Ziller, Carly M. Milkowski
Citation: Journal of Rural Health
Date: 09/2021
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