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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce

Characteristics and Challenges of Rural Ambulance Agencies - A Brief Review and Policy Considerations
Examines challenges including prolonged response and transport times, insufficient payment by insurers, transitions from volunteer to paid workforce, and lack of plans and policies to coordinate services. Features recommendations for identifying public policy considerations to stabilize rural ambulance agencies.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, et al.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Advancing Population Health in Rural Places: Key Lessons and Policy Opportunities
Discussion of topics including strategies to incorporate population health into rural health, how collaboration can help rural hospitals address population health issues, how rural healthcare systems can gain community support for population activities, and ways in which the rural healthcare workforce can be involved in population health. Examines various demonstration projects with roots in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Delaney P. Bounds, Andrew F. Coburn, et al.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Maine Health Access Foundation: Reaching Out to Organizations to Provide Directed Grants
An interview with Barbara Leonard and Ruta Kadonoff of the Maine Health Access Foundation. Discusses how the foundation provided unrestricted COVID-19 grants and open competitive grants and partnered with other philanthropies pooling together COVID-19 response funds. Describes the foundation's support for EMS, telehealth, tribal communities, behavioral health, and other concerns important to rural Maine.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Physician Density by Specialty Type in Urban and Rural Counties in the US, 2010 to 2017
Examines trends in physician density in rural and urban counties among primary care physicians, medical specialists, surgical specialists, or other specialists. Features statistics with breakdowns by large metropolitan, medium or small metropolitan, or rural counties.
Author(s): Sara R. Machado, Sahan Jayawardana, Elias Mossialos, Muthiah Vaduganathan
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(1)
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
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Measurement of American Indian and Alaska Native Racial Identity Among Medical School Applicants, Matriculants, and Graduates, 1996-2017
Presents a study on whether a 2002 change in the way the American Medical College Application System (AMCAS) tracks race/ethnicity data accurately represents medical school applicants, matriculants, and graduates who self-identify as American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN). Discusses the change in AMCAS' data collection around race and ethnicity for medical students and examines data from a cohort of AI/AN applicants and graduates from 1996-2017.
Author(s): Erik Brodt, Steele Valenzuela, Allison Empey, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(1), e2032550
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
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Eat Healthy, Be Active Community Workshops Implemented with Rural Hispanic Women
Describes a pilot study investigating whether delivering Eat Healthy, Be Active (EHBA) workshops through promotoras is a practical and culturally relevant method for encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviors and reducing obesity among Hispanic women in rural areas of Washington state. Includes data and statistics, with information on changes in nutrition label literacy, food insecurity, health behaviors, and health status among participants.
Author(s): Janeth I. Sanchez, Katherine J. Briant, Samantha Wu-Georges, et al.
Citation: BMC Women's Health, 21(24)
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
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Mental Health Systems Solutions Explorer
Interactive tool offering evidence-based solutions to increase mental healthcare utilization, increase access to care, and establish a continuum of care. Contains examples of each solution in practice. Solutions can be filtered to view those specifically of interest to rural communities.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Tool
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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How to Transform the U.S. Mental Health System: Evidence-based Recommendations
Discusses evidence-based strategies to promote mental healthcare utilization, improve access to care, and establish a continuum of care. Offers 15 recommendations to improve mental healthcare, including policies regarding reimbursement, workforce growth, and digital and telehealth services, among other topics. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Full Report, Research Brief: Transforming Mental Health Care in the United States
Author(s): Ryan K. McBain, Nicole K. Eberhart, Joshua Breslau, et al.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Rural Health Care Delivery Organizations and COVID-19: Major Challenges and Implications for Health Care Management Education and Training
Discusses the curtailing of healthcare management education and training due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Explores ways to enhance connections between universities and rural hospitals to facilitate rural healthcare management training.
Author(s): Steven Howard, Michael Counte, James Mikes, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 37(1), 249-251
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
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The State of the Nurse Practitioner Profession, 2020: Results from the National Nurse Practitioner Sample Survey
Analyzes data from the 2020 National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners to describe the nurse practitioner (NP) workforce in the U.S. Covers education, certification, practice patterns, and compensation, including statistics on NPs who practice in Rural Health Clinics.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Association of Nurse Practitioners
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