Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Home Health Care Services: Chapter 8
Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2024 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, rates of successful discharge and potentially preventable readmissions in urban and rural areas, and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2024 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, rates of successful discharge and potentially preventable readmissions in urban and rural areas, and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Hospice Services: Chapter 10
Discusses payment adequacy for hospice and palliative support services. Includes data on average costs by day and aggregate margins by urban and rural status, as well as demographics on Medicare decedents who used hospice during 2010 and between 2019-2024. Compares the actual hospice utilization rates in micropolitan, rural adjacent, rural nonadjacent, and frontier areas to urban hospice utilization rates.
Date: 03/2026
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Discusses payment adequacy for hospice and palliative support services. Includes data on average costs by day and aggregate margins by urban and rural status, as well as demographics on Medicare decedents who used hospice during 2010 and between 2019-2024. Compares the actual hospice utilization rates in micropolitan, rural adjacent, rural nonadjacent, and frontier areas to urban hospice utilization rates.
Date: 03/2026
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Measles Outbreak — New Mexico, 2025
Reports on a communication and vaccination outreach strategy used by the New Mexico Department of Health to reach a largely rural population, in response to a measles outbreak. Discusses communication activities and coordination strategies, as well as vaccination clinics and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination doses administered.
Author(s): Emma Stanislawski, Andrea Romero, Nora Holzinger, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 75(9), 111-115
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Reports on a communication and vaccination outreach strategy used by the New Mexico Department of Health to reach a largely rural population, in response to a measles outbreak. Discusses communication activities and coordination strategies, as well as vaccination clinics and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination doses administered.
Author(s): Emma Stanislawski, Andrea Romero, Nora Holzinger, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 75(9), 111-115
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Rural Health Transformation Program: State Focus on Behavioral Health
Describes behavioral healthcare initiatives addressed in state Rural Health Transformation Program applications. Covers behavioral health integration in primary care, the behavioral health crisis continuum, the behavioral health workforce, payment approaches, and technology investments.
Author(s): Laura Galbreath
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Describes behavioral healthcare initiatives addressed in state Rural Health Transformation Program applications. Covers behavioral health integration in primary care, the behavioral health crisis continuum, the behavioral health workforce, payment approaches, and technology investments.
Author(s): Laura Galbreath
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Training Needs for Rural Primary Care Practice: A Scoping Review of Resident Physician Preparation
Results of a scoping review exploring what graduate medical education competencies and training primary care residents will need in order to practice effectively in rural areas of the United States. Study was limited to peer-reviewed English language articles published from 2013-2023.
Author(s): David F. Schmitz, Annie Koempel, Campbell Cook, Andrew W. Bazemore
Citation: Family Medicine, 58(3), 199-207
Date: 03/2026
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Results of a scoping review exploring what graduate medical education competencies and training primary care residents will need in order to practice effectively in rural areas of the United States. Study was limited to peer-reviewed English language articles published from 2013-2023.
Author(s): David F. Schmitz, Annie Koempel, Campbell Cook, Andrew W. Bazemore
Citation: Family Medicine, 58(3), 199-207
Date: 03/2026
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The Impact of Nurse Practitioner Full Practice Authority on Pediatric Care Experiences: A National Secondary Data Analysis
Examines the impact of full practice authority (FPA) for pediatric nurse practitioners (NPs) on pediatric primary healthcare access. Utilizes 2010–2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to analyze policy changes related to FPA implementation according to patient access, experiences, and rurality.
Author(s): Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, Maxwell Mehlman, Alicia Plemmons, et al.
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 40(2), 251-257
Date: 03/2026
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Examines the impact of full practice authority (FPA) for pediatric nurse practitioners (NPs) on pediatric primary healthcare access. Utilizes 2010–2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to analyze policy changes related to FPA implementation according to patient access, experiences, and rurality.
Author(s): Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, Maxwell Mehlman, Alicia Plemmons, et al.
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 40(2), 251-257
Date: 03/2026
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Mental Health Specialist Telemedicine Uptake and Patient Location
Analyzes 17,742 Medicare fee-for-service claims for mental health specialists between 2018 and 2023 to identify the proportion of telemedicine visits that are with rural, low-access-to-care, or other distant communities. Includes analysis of new and established patients. Discusses study findings as part of larger discussions regarding telehealth increasing access to healthcare for rural and other hard to reach populations.
Author(s): Jacob Jorem, Andrew D. Wilcock, Alisa B. Busch, Haiden A. Huskamp, Ateev Mehrotra
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 9(3)
Date: 03/2026
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Analyzes 17,742 Medicare fee-for-service claims for mental health specialists between 2018 and 2023 to identify the proportion of telemedicine visits that are with rural, low-access-to-care, or other distant communities. Includes analysis of new and established patients. Discusses study findings as part of larger discussions regarding telehealth increasing access to healthcare for rural and other hard to reach populations.
Author(s): Jacob Jorem, Andrew D. Wilcock, Alisa B. Busch, Haiden A. Huskamp, Ateev Mehrotra
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 9(3)
Date: 03/2026
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Digital Health Assessment of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Examines the progress of digitally-enabled public health services and operations capacity across 38 local public health departments (LPHDs) and nine tribal health department teams in Michigan. Covers four key domains of digital health ecosystems: interoperability, governance and workforce capacity, predictive analytics, and person-enabled health. Offers recommendations for advancing digital health ecosystems across the state. Includes rural data and considerations throughout.
Author(s): Anne Snowdon, Alexandra Wright, Abdul Hussein, Tim Story
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organizations: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
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Examines the progress of digitally-enabled public health services and operations capacity across 38 local public health departments (LPHDs) and nine tribal health department teams in Michigan. Covers four key domains of digital health ecosystems: interoperability, governance and workforce capacity, predictive analytics, and person-enabled health. Offers recommendations for advancing digital health ecosystems across the state. Includes rural data and considerations throughout.
Author(s): Anne Snowdon, Alexandra Wright, Abdul Hussein, Tim Story
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organizations: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
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March 2026 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2026 meeting. Covers research and proposals related to the Medicare ground ambulance data collection system, access to hospice and certain complex palliative services for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease and beneficiaries with cancer, provider participation in Medicare Advantage (MA) networks, MA encounter data in risk adjustment, the complexity of Medicare enrollment decisions for beneficiaries, and Medicare Part B premium payment basics. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Additional links: Mandated Report: Assessment of the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2026 meeting. Covers research and proposals related to the Medicare ground ambulance data collection system, access to hospice and certain complex palliative services for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease and beneficiaries with cancer, provider participation in Medicare Advantage (MA) networks, MA encounter data in risk adjustment, the complexity of Medicare enrollment decisions for beneficiaries, and Medicare Part B premium payment basics. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Additional links: Mandated Report: Assessment of the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System
Date: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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West Virginia Rural Primary Care Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in West Virginia 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: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in West Virginia 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: 03/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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