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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models

Opioid Use Disorder: Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Communities
Discusses challenges rural communities face in providing access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). Identifies federal and state strategies to address treatment capacity, including expanding the workforce authorized to prescribe buprenorphine and using technology to provide treatment. Highlights how Scott County, Indiana responded to an HIV outbreak related to OUD by addressing the barriers to care faced by people with OUD and HIV.
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pew Charitable Trusts
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How Primary Care Affects Health Care Costs and Outcomes
Recording of a February 5, 2019, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the impact of primary care on healthcare outcomes and costs. Testimonies include rural-relevant considerations and address direct care primary care practices, employer strategies such as worksite clinics, the impact of Project ECHO, and more.
Additional links: Joshua J. Umbehr Testimony, Katherine Bennett Testimony, Sapna Kripalani Testimony
Date: 02/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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How Rural Hospitals Improve Value and Affordability
Issue brief discussing four strategies rural hospitals are undertaking to improve the quality of care and patient experience, while decreasing the cost of healthcare services. Covers strategies on population health, new models of care, telehealth, and workforce programs. Includes multiple case studies and rural program examples for each strategy.
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Rural Report: Challenges Facing Rural Communities and the Roadmap to Ensure Local Access to High-Quality, Affordable Care
Reports on continuing, current, and emerging challenges for rural hospitals working to provide access to healthcare services in rural communities. Includes discussion on policy recommendations to improve access and covers new models of care, reimbursement policies, regulatory requirements, telehealth, workforce issues, and prescription drug costs.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Infographic
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Delivery of Preventive Oral Health Services by Rurality: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
Examines the integration of oral health and primary care as a method of increasing access to preventive oral health services for children under age 6 using 2012-2014 Medicaid claims data from 39 states. Includes patient characteristics, such as age, sex, and poverty level, as well as healthcare utilization rates, with breakdowns by metro and nonmetro counties.
Author(s): Caroline K. Geiger, Ashley M. Kranz, Andrew W. Dick, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 35(1), 3-11
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
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HHS and HRSA Rural Summit
Summary of a January 28, 2019, discussion among rural healthcare stakeholders concerning challenges rural communities face in providing and accessing healthcare. Also explores opportunities for the Department of Health and Human Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration to address these issues through program and policy development. Topics include access to care, workforce challenges, rural health system transformation, telehealth, and response to the opioid crisis.
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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California Improvement Network Toolkit: Three Strategies to Help Primary Care Teams Treat Substance Use Disorders
Provides a toolkit to help primary care organizations and teams integrate substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), based on feedback from California healthcare organizations. Covers barriers to SUD services, as well as strategies and tactics to overcome them. Addresses how small and/or rural practices can access addiction specialists through contracts and telehealth.
Author(s): Crystal Eubanks
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Healthforce Center at UCSF
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Medicaid in the Territories: Program Features, Challenges, and Changes
Issue brief examining key issues and trends in the Medicaid program for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, using findings drawn from a budget survey and interviews with Medicaid officials. Focuses on Medicaid financing, eligibility and enrollment, benefits, provider access and delivery systems, and the changes from fiscal years 2017 to 2019. Features statistics including Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollment as of July 2016, and Medicaid funding and spending in these territories as of fiscal year 2017.
Author(s): Cornelia Hall, Robin Rudowitz, Kathleen Gifford
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Project ECHO: Policy Pathways for Sustainability
Examines policy and funding options to provide for the long-term sustainability of Project ECHO, a telehealth mentoring program supporting the health workforce in rural and underserved areas. Offers state and federal policy recommendations, discussing how each would work, action steps, and feasibility.
Author(s): Greg Howe, Allison Hamblin
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Teleophthalmology: Ophthalmologists Talk Remote Eye Care Solutions
Discusses the role of remote eye care technology in meeting rural eye care needs. Highlights the use of teleophthalmology in rural Oregon. Features a collaboration of the Joslin Diabetes Center and the Indian Health Service to address diabetic retinopathy using remote surveillance.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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