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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Licensure and certification of health professionals

Developing Telemental Health Partnerships Between State Medical Schools and Federally Qualified Health Centers: Navigating the Regulatory Landscape and Policy Recommendations
Provides recommendations for overcoming barriers to promoting telemental health services partnerships between medical schools and health centers. Discusses rural-urban disparities in provision of mental health services, credentialing, remote electronic health records access, insurance issues, and billing.
Author(s): John C. Fortney, Richard C. Veith, Amy M. Bauer, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 35(3), 287-297
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
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Nurse Practitioners: A Solution to America's Primary Care Crisis
Examines trends in supply and demand of nurse practitioners (NPs), including projected supply of physicians and NPs in rural areas. Includes a table listing state-level scope-of-practice regulatory restrictions on NPs as of 2018.
Author(s): Peter Buerhaus
Date: 09/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Enterprise Institute
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State Legislative Approach to Enumerating Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages: Lessons Learned in New Mexico
Describes the model developed in New Mexico (NM) as a result of the Health Care Work Force Data Collection, Analysis and Policy Act, initially enacted in 2011, to address behavioral health workforce shortages, particularly in rural areas, and the increased demand for services due to Medicaid expansion in the state. Highlights the purpose of the legislation, the development of a statewide workforce committee, policies implemented, lessons learned, and offers suggestions for other states considering legislation supporting behavioral health workforce initiatives.
Author(s): Deborah B. Altschul, Caroline A. Bonham, Martha J. Faulkner, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54(6S3), S220-S229
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
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Dental Therapy in Minnesota
Reports on the dental therapist workforce in Minnesota offering information on education, certification, licensure, and practice. Discusses the financial viability of dental practices employing dental therapists and how dental therapists can increase access to oral care in rural areas.
Date: 06/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Nursing Home Infection Control Program Characteristics, CMS Citations, and Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Policies: A National Study
Results of a study of 2,514 nursing homes to assess infection preventionist training and certification, staff turnover, and infection control program characteristics. Features statistics on facility characteristics, with breakdowns by locations in metro, large urban, small urban, or rural areas.
Author(s): Patricia W. Stone, Carolyn T.A. Herzig, Mansi Agarwal, Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Andrew W. Dick
Citation: Inquiry, 55:1-7
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
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Physician Assistants: Modernize Laws to Improve Rural Access
National Rural Health Association policy paper describing benefits to rural communities when practice barriers are removed and payments are sufficient to attract physician assistants to the area. Includes recommendations to help achieve this goal.
Author(s): Roger Wells, Megan Cody, Robert Alpino, Melissa Van Dyne, Ross Abbott, et al.
Date: 04/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Examination of Community Health Workers in Rural Pennsylvania
Assesses the extent to which Community Health Workers (CHWs) are used in rural Pennsylvania to address the healthcare needs of underserved people. Includes statistics on CHW salaries, caseloads, hours of paid work, health outcomes, demographic characteristics, and training and certification.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Darlene Ardary, Jennifer DellAntonio, Joyce Du Gan, et al.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Barriers and Solutions to the Single Accreditation System: A Survey Study of AOA Family Medicine Residency Program Directors
Results of a survey designed to assess attitudes, confidence, and progress of American Osteopathic Association family medicine residencies during the transition to a Single Accreditation System (SAS). Discusses concerns about the effects of SAS on the primary care workforce in rural settings.
Author(s): Julie Petersen Marcinek, Megan Coffman, Zachary Levin, Winston Liaw, Andrew Bazemore
Date: 10/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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Minnesota: Filling the Mental Health Pipeline
Discusses the mental health workforce in Minnesota including the educational pipeline, the licensed and unlicensed workforce, regional issues related to recruitment, and policy implications. Includes data about degrees completed, licenses gained after graduation, and population-to-provider ratios of the mental health workforce in Minnesota by rural or isolated, small town or small rural, micropolitan or large rural, and metropolitan.
Author(s): Alessia Leibert, Teri Fritsma
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
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Development and Deployment of Community Health Workers in Delaware
A guide for establishing a Community Health Worker program in the state of Delaware. Includes information about certification requirements and reimbursement mechanisms, along with model programs from other states.
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Delaware Center for Health Innovation, Delaware Health and Social Services
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