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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models

Vaccine Distribution in Rural Counties
Presents data on COVID-19 vaccination rates and intention to be vaccinated by urban-rural status. Discusses vaccine distribution, challenges facing rural communities, and considerations for communication about the vaccines. Describes best practices in rural counties in Virginia, Washington, and West Virgina.
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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Community Factors Associated With Telemedicine Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Examines the association of telemedicine use with community factors among people with commercial or Medicare Advantage insurance. Features a county-level map showing variation in the percentage of telemedicine visits during COVID-19, and statistics with breakdowns by low, middle, and high population density.
Author(s): Sadiq Y. Patel, Sherri Rose, Michael L. Barnett, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(5)
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
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COVID-19 Health Care Flexibilities: Perspectives, Experiences, and Lessons Learned
Recording of a May 19, 2021, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on healthcare flexibilities implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on telehealth. Discusses lessons learned and considerations for the extension of these flexibilities beyond the pandemic.
Additional links: Kisha Davis Testimony, Narayana Murali Testimony
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
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Tri-Area Community Health Provides Community-Focused Integrated Care
Features a rural Virginia Federally Qualified Health Center that provides integrated primary care and behavioral health services. Discusses how services have been adapted to meet the needs of a growing Hispanic population, and describes a behavioral health training program offered in partnership with Radford University.
Author(s): Kathryn Rutz
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Medicare and Telehealth: Coverage and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Options for the Future
Provides an overview of changes made to Medicare's coverage of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Explores Medicare beneficiaries' use of telehealth in summer and fall 2020, and presents data by beneficiary age, race and ethnicity, dual-eligibility, presence and type of chronic conditions, and metropolitan status. Examines issues and questions regarding telehealth coverage beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Author(s): Wyatt Koma, Juliette Cubanski, Tricia Neuman
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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AHA Future of Rural Health Care Task Force: Final Recommendations
Presents the recommendations of the American Hospital Association Future of Rural Health Care Task Force, including innovation-based solutions and promising practices. Solutions include public-private funding changes for core services, flexible rural hospital infrastructure funding programs, creating a rural design center, and supporting grant writing services. Explores promising rural initiatives such as telemedicine, strategic partnerships, maternal health efforts, broadband investment, and rural philanthropy.
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Telemedicine Increases Access to Buprenorphine Initiation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Discusses the expanded access to buprenorphine prescription through telemedicine during COVID-19, comparing the experiences of two harm reduction primary care programs in a rural and urban region of New York. Discusses reduced barriers to treatment, particularly delays due to in-person evaluation requirements before to the pandemic, and innovations to opioid use disorder treatment made possible through telehealth.
Author(s): Linda Wang, Jeffrey Weiss, Elizabeth Bogel Ryan, et al.
Citation: Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 124, 108272
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
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Making Connections: A Guide to Starting a Rural HIV Care Telemedicine Program
Offers an overview of a program that provides HIV care to rural Alabama that started as an in-person service in rural clinics and transitioned to a telemedicine program. Includes a 10-step road map for planning and implementing a telemedicine program. Covers considerations for program development, including scheduling, service delivery, legal considerations, barriers and facilitators to planning, and technology. Free to download after registering name, organization, and email.
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AIDS United
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Integrating Cultural Relevance into a Behavioral mHealth Intervention for Native American Youth
An analysis of a behavioral mHealth intervention for Native American communities, ARORA (Amplifying Resilience Over Restricted Internet Access), co-developed with Native American youth, a clinical psychologist, and a community advisory board. Discusses the key themes and critical components of the intervention as identified by members of the Native American community, and offers recommendations to assist other researchers in their development of a cross-cultural design.
Author(s): Vigil-Hayes, M., Collier, A.F., Hagemann, S., et al.
Citation: Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW1), 165.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
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April 2021 MACPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) April 2021 meeting. Covers the review of draft chapters and recommendations regarding high-cost specialty drugs, improving integration through dual-eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs), access to mental health services for adults, access to behavioral health services for children and adolescents, electronic health records as a tool for behavioral health services integration, and the non-emergency medical transportation benefit. Also details lessons from states on rebalancing, ensuring quality in Medicaid and CHIP, and what states are learning from the expanded use of telehealth.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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