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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Analysis of Context Factors in Compulsory and Incentive Strategies for Improving Attraction and Retention of Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas: A Systematic Review
Identifies and summarizes key factors policymakers should consider when designing and implementing interventions to address shortages of qualified health workers in underserved areas. Includes data from U.S.-based and international studies, and focuses on compulsory rural services programs and financial incentives.
Author(s): Xiaoyun Liu, Lixia Dou, Huan Zhang, Yang Sun, Beibei Yuan
Citation: Human Resources for Health, 13
Date: 07/2015
Type: Document
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The Use of Telemedicine to Address Access and Physician Workforce Shortages
Policy statement discussing opportunities to use telemedicine technologies to address pediatric workforce shortages in rural and urban settings. Offers information on improving access to care, physician capacity, quality of care, and costs of care.
Author(s): James P. Marcin, Mary E. Rimsza, William B. Moskowitz
Citation: Pediatrics, 136(1), 202-209
Date: 07/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Pediatrics
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Rural Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces
Analyzes Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment data for 2015 by geographic categories, population density, premium, and firm participation. Compares enrollment between rural and urban areas and includes a map showing enrollment rates by geographic area.
Author(s): Abigail R. Barker, Timothy D. McBride, Leah M. Kemper, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 07/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report
Presents data, some rural specific, about the injury rates across the country and the evidence-based approaches that could be taken to help prevent or lower those rates. Includes state-by-state injury prevention indicators and scores such as motor vehicle accidents, violent crimes, abuse, accidental death, and drug use.
Author(s): Jeffrey Levi, Laura M. Segal, Alejandra Martin
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Trust for America's Health
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A Participatory Regional Partnership Approach to Promote Nutrition and Physical Activity Through Environmental and Policy Change in Rural Missouri
A case study of Healthier Missouri Communities (Healthier MO), a community-based research project in 12 counties in rural southeast Missouri. Describes a group process to identify and select promising evidence-based interventions to promote nutrition and physical activity.
Author(s): Ellen K. Barnidge, Elizabeth A. Baker, Amy Estlund, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 12
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2015
Includes chapters on coordinating Medicare policy across payment models, Part B drug payment policy, value-based incentives for managing Part B drug use, multiple drug use including opioids among Medicare Part D enrollees, hospital short-stays, and new methods of measuring quality of care. Rural hospitals, rural referral centers, and rural patient populations are discussed throughout this report.
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Healthy Border 2020: A Prevention & Health Promotion Initiative
Reports on the prevailing public health issues occurring in U.S.-Mexico border populations. Identifies an agenda focused on health promotion and disease prevention, and develops a strategy for implementing a coordinated public health response at binational, state and local levels.
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Where are the Primary Care Doctors? A Look at Michigan's Primary Care Physician Shortage
Provides an overview of Michigan's primary care physician workforce. Provides demographic information on the physician workforce. Discusses factors contributing to primary care shortages, including those specific to the rural workforce. Includes maps with county-level comparisons of actual to suggested physician-to-population ratios for different types of primary care physicians. Discusses state policy options that can be used to address primary care shortages, with national maps comparing the states.
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Citizens Research Council of Michigan
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Care Coordination in Rural Communities: Supporting the High Performance Rural Health System
Examines current care coordination programs and processes to see how they impact rural communities, and to determine how well different approaches to care coordination are working. Offers policy recommendations that support care coordination and help facilitate a high-performance rural health system.
Author(s): Charles Alfero, Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, et al.
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Telemedicine: The Promise and Challenges
Provides an overview of telemedicine including a definition, current applications, policy issues surrounding it, evidence for its use, and a look forward to the future of the service delivery model. Includes examples of the application of telehealth services in rural areas. Lists resources with additional information.
Author(s): Deanna Okrent
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Alliance for Health Policy
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