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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

South Carolina 2025-2030 State Health Improvement Plan
Describes a plan for public health improvement in South Carolina. Identifies priorities, strategies, and metrics for topics including health outcomes, maternal and infant health, and behavioral health. Mentions rural throughout.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: South Carolina Department of Public Health
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Rural-Urban Differences in Dietary Intake Across Pregnancy Trimesters: A Multisite Prospective Cohort Study
Examines the relationship among dietary intake during pregnancy, socioeconomic status (SES), and rural versus urban location. Analyzes screening data from 495 pregnant women with rural versus urban breakdowns according to study site; demographics; SES variables of income, education, and insurance status; and fiber intake. Discusses the impact of rurality and SES on nutrition during pregnancy.
Author(s): Alex H. Crisp, Bethany Barone Gibbs, Jacob B. Gallagher, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(4), e70085
Date: 10/2025
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Utah Rural Primary Care Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in Utah in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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New Mexico Rural Primary Care Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in New Mexico in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Affordability of Health Professional Education: Proceedings of a Workshop Series—In Brief
Summarizes presentations and discussions from the National Academies Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education, convened in early 2025 to explore financial barriers, assess workforce effects, and consider ways to improve the value and accessibility of health professional education. Discusses primary care workforce shortages and lack of training opportunities in rural areas.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Trends in Opioid Prescribing by Oncologists for Medicare Beneficiaries from 2014 to 2022
Examines trends in opioid prescribing among oncologists before and after the FDA's 2018 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for opioids revision, utilizing 2014-2022 Medicare Part D Prescriber Public Use Files data. Breaks down data by opioid type, oncologist subspecialty, geographic region, and rurality.
Author(s): Shaimaa Elshafie, Lorenzo Villa Zapata
Citation: Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 31(10), 991-996
Date: 10/2025
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How States Can Boost Behavioral Health Services in Rural Communities
Explores ways state officials can utilize federal funds to increase mental health and substance use treatment for rural communities. Highlights strategies for increasing access to behavioral health services in rural communities that can be funded through the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.
Author(s): Alexandra Duncan, Kristen Mizzi Angelone
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Pew Research Center
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Investing in Primary Care: The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now
Describes opportunities to support advancement of preparation and growth for nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet the population's primary care needs. Explores the importance of NPs in rural and underserved communities, and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Limited Behavioral Health Provider Networks and Inactive Providers
Examines the availability of behavioral health providers in selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care networks in 2023. Analyzes provider network lists and MA and Medicaid encounter data for four MA and two Medicaid managed care plans from 10 selected urban and rural counties across five states. Describes the proportion of the behavioral health workforce in each county included in the plans' networks. Discusses the extent to which managed care plans had inactive providers in their network and why these providers did not deliver services to enrollees. Includes data on the percentage of inactive providers in rural and urban counties. Offers recommendations to monitor and improve the accuracy of provider networks.
Additional links: Report Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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On the Road to Early Detection: Woman's Hospital's Mobile Mammography
A podcast episode discussing a mobile mammography unit in Louisiana. Discusses differences in rural and urban breast cancer incidence and how a mobile unit increases access to preventive care.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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