Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
How States Can Expand Health Care Access in Rural Communities
Discusses policy options states could use to increase access to care and the supply of healthcare providers in rural areas. Covers financial assistance programs for medical and dental education; malpractice reform; scope of practice changes for advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and dental health aide therapists; telemedicine parity; and mobile clinics.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
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Discusses policy options states could use to increase access to care and the supply of healthcare providers in rural areas. Covers financial assistance programs for medical and dental education; malpractice reform; scope of practice changes for advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and dental health aide therapists; telemedicine parity; and mobile clinics.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
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Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking Final Report
Reports on synthetic drug trafficking in the U.S., including the challenges for law enforcement, need for updated drug policy, and surveillance and data analysis concerns. Discusses public health considerations and challenges for reducing the demand for drugs via treatment. Technical Appendixes include rural references throughout, and Figure B.5 shows opioid-involved overdose deaths by Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) for 2000-2019.
Additional links: Technical Appendixes
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, RAND Corporation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
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Reports on synthetic drug trafficking in the U.S., including the challenges for law enforcement, need for updated drug policy, and surveillance and data analysis concerns. Discusses public health considerations and challenges for reducing the demand for drugs via treatment. Technical Appendixes include rural references throughout, and Figure B.5 shows opioid-involved overdose deaths by Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) for 2000-2019.
Additional links: Technical Appendixes
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, RAND Corporation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
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Chartis Center for Rural Health Research & Resources for the 2022 National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute Conference
Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year and presentation slides on this report from the 2022 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year and presentation slides on this report from the 2022 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year
Examines the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Discusses disparities between rural and urban communities and communities with hospitals vulnerable to closure. Describes the benefits of COVID-19 relief funding on rural hospitals and how scheduled reimbursement cuts and staffing shortages could impact hospitals' financial stability. Also discusses how staffing shortages impact access to obstetrics and chemotherapy care in rural areas.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Examines the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Discusses disparities between rural and urban communities and communities with hospitals vulnerable to closure. Describes the benefits of COVID-19 relief funding on rural hospitals and how scheduled reimbursement cuts and staffing shortages could impact hospitals' financial stability. Also discusses how staffing shortages impact access to obstetrics and chemotherapy care in rural areas.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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The Problem Of The Color Line: Spatial Access To Hospital Services For Minoritized Racial And Ethnic Groups
Study examining inequities in access to healthcare by race and geography, covering distances to hospital services for minoritized ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZTCAs). Discusses factors that lead to disparities in access for rural minority communities, including policy, rural hospital closures, and safety-net program issues.
Additional links: Story Map: The Problem Of The Color Line
Author(s): Jan M. Eberth, Peiyin Hung, Gabriel A. Benavidez, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 41(2), 237-246
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
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Study examining inequities in access to healthcare by race and geography, covering distances to hospital services for minoritized ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZTCAs). Discusses factors that lead to disparities in access for rural minority communities, including policy, rural hospital closures, and safety-net program issues.
Additional links: Story Map: The Problem Of The Color Line
Author(s): Jan M. Eberth, Peiyin Hung, Gabriel A. Benavidez, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 41(2), 237-246
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
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Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress
Offers strategies to support development and integration of behavioral health services across healthcare and community-based organizations, including leveraging payment systems to support coordinated care for farm families and aligning federal grant programs to address mental health and substance use disorders. Features recommendations including integrating primary and behavioral care for initial treatment of mental health and substance abuse concerns, expanding the workforce to improve rural behavioral health services capacity, increasing telehealth services, and expanding private and public insurance coverage.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Alva O. Ferdinand, Alana Knudson, et al.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Offers strategies to support development and integration of behavioral health services across healthcare and community-based organizations, including leveraging payment systems to support coordinated care for farm families and aligning federal grant programs to address mental health and substance use disorders. Features recommendations including integrating primary and behavioral care for initial treatment of mental health and substance abuse concerns, expanding the workforce to improve rural behavioral health services capacity, increasing telehealth services, and expanding private and public insurance coverage.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Alva O. Ferdinand, Alana Knudson, et al.
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Federal Plan for Equitable Long-Term Recovery and Resilience for Social, Behavioral, and Community Health
Details an approach for federal agencies to cooperatively strengthen the conditions necessary to improve individual and community resilience and well-being nationwide. Designed to guide long-term investment using the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being Framework. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Details an approach for federal agencies to cooperatively strengthen the conditions necessary to improve individual and community resilience and well-being nationwide. Designed to guide long-term investment using the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being Framework. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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The Indian Health Service and American Indian/Alaska Native Health Outcomes
Offers an overview of the history of the U.S. Indian Health Service, describing the agency's efforts to address public health and healthcare needs of American Indian and Alaska Native populations as well as challenges related to meeting those needs. Presents data from various publications on life expectancy, health outcomes, and health disparities.
Author(s): Gina Kruse, Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, Anpotowin Jensen, Lakotah Hardie, Thomas D. Sequist
Citation: Annual Review of Public Health, 43, 559-576
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
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Offers an overview of the history of the U.S. Indian Health Service, describing the agency's efforts to address public health and healthcare needs of American Indian and Alaska Native populations as well as challenges related to meeting those needs. Presents data from various publications on life expectancy, health outcomes, and health disparities.
Author(s): Gina Kruse, Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, Anpotowin Jensen, Lakotah Hardie, Thomas D. Sequist
Citation: Annual Review of Public Health, 43, 559-576
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
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January 2022 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, physician and other health professional services, outpatient dialysis services and improving the ESRD payment system, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, long-term care hospital services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, hospice services, and ambulatory surgical center services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, physician and other health professional services, outpatient dialysis services and improving the ESRD payment system, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, long-term care hospital services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, hospice services, and ambulatory surgical center services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL) Meeting Minutes, January 20-21, 2022
Summarizes the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL) meeting held on January 20-21, 2022. Includes updates from the Bureau of Health Workforce and discussion on healthcare workforce resiliency and mental health. Features a presentation by the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce on recruiting and retaining rural healthcare professionals.
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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Summarizes the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL) meeting held on January 20-21, 2022. Includes updates from the Bureau of Health Workforce and discussion on healthcare workforce resiliency and mental health. Features a presentation by the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce on recruiting and retaining rural healthcare professionals.
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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