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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Maternal health and prenatal care

A Best Practices Approach to Treating Maternal Hemorrhage
Provides an overview of how Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, developed and implemented protocols to improve maternal hemorrhage outcomes. Discusses the impact and lessons learned from implementing the protocols as well, as future maternal health improvement goals at the medical center.
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Telemedicine and Pregnancy Care
Explores the role telemedicine can play in providing prenatal and postpartum care to women in rural areas. Highlights the types of specialized care that can be delivered via telemedicine to support maternal care in rural areas. Discusses some of the barriers to telemedicine implementation, including state-level Medicaid reimbursement policy.
Author(s): Gabriela Weigel, Brittni Frederiksen, Usha Ranji
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Patient and Hospital Factors Associated With Unexpected Newborn Complications Among Term Neonates in US Hospitals
Results of a study to examine the rates of severe, unexpected complications in full term newborns in 576 hospitals from January 2015 - December 2017. Explores whether rates vary significantly among hospitals and looks at risk factors and possible causes of variation. Features statistics on characteristics of mothers, hospitals, and delivery types, and median percentage of rural population in the counties where deliveries occurred.
Author(s): Mark A. Clapp, Kaitlyn E. James, Sara V. Bates
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(2)
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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Health Disparities in Rural America: Current Challenges and Future Solutions
Describes health risks experienced by rural people and the problems they face in accessing healthcare in shortage areas, and offers possible solutions. Includes a map showing Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas by county, and a list of states allowing full practice authority for nurse practitioners as of 2019.
Author(s): Theresa Capriotti, Tiffany Pearson, Lillian Dufour
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Clinical Advisor
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Understanding and Addressing the Drivers of Infant Mortality in Maine
Overview of infant mortality data for Maine between 2000 and 2017. Includes county-level data as well as rural and urban comparisons. Discusses causes of mortality, risk factors, challenges for rural residents in the Maine healthcare system, social determinants of health, and more. Makes recommendations for decreasing infant mortality with specific recommendations for rural.
Author(s): Katherine Flaherty
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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January 2020 MACPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) January 2020 meeting. Covers Medicaid role in maternity care with a focus on pregnant women with substance use disorder and infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, integrating care for dually eligible beneficiaries, maternal morbidity among women in Medicaid, and improving participation in the Medicare Savings Programs, among other things.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Rural Availability of the Obstetrician-Gynecologist Physician and Certified Nurse Midwife Workforce
Brief examining Obstetrician-Gynecologist workforce and maternal care in rural Arizona by county, discussing impacts of workforce shortages on rural mothers.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, S Brady, H Carter, D Derksen
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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Arizona Workforce Report: Obstetrician-Gynecologist Physicians and Certified Nurse Midwives
Reports on the availability of maternal health providers in rural Arizona, including an overview of women's health and rural maternal health disparities. Examines maternal health workforce by rural-metro designation, state and county, education, and more using Arizona Medical Board and Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners data.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, B Brady, et al.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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Medicaid's Role in Financing Maternity Care
Examines the characteristics of births financed by Medicaid and other payers in 2018. Describes the demographics and health status of pregnant women by insurance type, including urban versus rural residence. Provides state-by-state data on births by payer as well as the location of birth, access to prenatal care, and birth outcomes among Medicaid beneficiaries.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Expecting More: Addressing America's Maternal and Infant Health Crisis
Provides recording and witness testimony from the U.S. House of Representatives' Joint Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Workforce Protections Hearing on maternal mortality and disparities in maternal and infant care. Testimony includes some discussion of maternity care in rural areas.
Additional links: Joia Crear Perry Testimony, Stacey D. Stewart Testimony, Video of Hearing
Date: 01/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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