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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Ready or Not? How Community Health Centers View Their Preparedness to Care for Newly Insured Patients
Surveys Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) on their preparedness for the anticipated growth in patients due to more people having obtained health insurance under the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. Addresses workforce challenges and mentions rural throughout.
Author(s): Melinda K. Abrams, Michelle M. Doty, Jamie Ryan, Dominique Hall, Pamela Riley
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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High Deductible Health Insurance Plans in Rural Areas
Examines whether rural residents with private insurance are more likely to have a high deductible health insurance plan (HDHP) than urban residents, and if it differs by location in remote, rural areas. Addresses differences in income and education and offers recommendations related to the Health Insurance Marketplaces.
Additional links: Policy Brief: Rural Residents More Likely to be Enrolled in High Deductible Health Plans
Author(s): Jennifer D. Lenardson, Erika C. Ziller, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Health, United States, 2013: With Special Feature on Prescription Drugs
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access and expenditures. Includes data on rural areas - see index under "Metropolitan/nonmetropolitan data." 2013 edition includes a section on prescription drugs.
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Primary Care, Behavioral Health, Provider Colocation, and Rurality
Results of a study regarding the colocation of behavioral health and primary care service delivery as related to rural. Study showed that 40.2% of primary care physicians in urban areas are colocated with behavioral health providers compared with 22.8% in isolated rural areas and 26.5% in frontier areas. Challenges include payment policies separating physical and behavioral health care, workforce distribution, and supply deficiencies, particularly in rural areas.
Author(s): Benjamin F. Miller, Stephen Petterson, Shandra M. Brown Levey, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 27(3), 367-374
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
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State Variability in Supply of Office-based Primary Care Providers: United States, 2012
Data brief covering the supply of primary care providers. Includes national rural-urban comparisons for primary care providers per 100,000 population and for use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in physician practices. See Figure 4.
Author(s): Esther Hing, Chun-Ju Hsiao
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Shared and Unshared Barriers to Cancer Symptom Management Among Urban and Rural American Indians
Reports on a 5-year study measuring cancer symptom management in both rural and urban American Indian (AI) populations in the southwestern U.S. Separates findings into shared barriers, such as transportation and lack of support services, and unshared barriers, such as cultural beliefs about treatment and language differences, between rural and urban groups.
Author(s): Tracy Line Itty, Felicia Schanche Hodge, Fernando Martinez
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 30(2), 206-213
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
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Widening Rural–Urban Disparities in All-Cause Mortality and Mortality from Major Causes of Death in the USA, 1969–2009
Examines U.S. mortality rates between 1969 and 2009 to identify growth or reduction of mortality disparities between rural and urban settings. Addresses the impact or race/ethnicity, gender, and poverty.
Author(s): Gopal K. Singh, Mohammad Siahpush
Citation: Journal of Urban Health, 91(2), 272-292
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
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Late HIV Diagnosis: Differences by Rural/Urban Residence, Florida, 2007–2011
Discusses the demographics, socioeconomics, and the availability of healthcare resources linked with a late diagnosis of HIV in rural and urban regions of Florida.
Author(s): Mary Jo Trepka, Kristopher P. Fennie, Diana M. Sheehan, et al.
Citation: AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 28(4), 188-197
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
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Nationwide Inpatient Sample Redesign: Final Report
Describes sampling changes for the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, which includes information on hospital services by urban/rural status. The NIS will use a sample of discharge records from all HCUP-participating hospitals rather than all discharge records from a sample of hospitals.
Author(s): Robert L. Houchens, David N. Ross, Anne Elixhauser, Joanna Jiang
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Health Coverage and Care in the South: A Chartbook
Provides key data on the demographic and economic characteristics of the Southern population as well as their health status, health insurance coverage, and access to care. Covers data on citizenship status, age, urban-rural composition, and income of residents in the South. Offers data on the number of Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the South.
Author(s): Jessica Stephens, Alexandra Gates, Vann Newkirk, Laura Snyder
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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