Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

Rural Health Research Recap: Opioid Use Disorder and Treatment: Rural-Urban Comparisons
Summary of research on opioid use disorder (OUD) among youth, young adults, and pregnant women, the impact of OUD on hospitals and emergency departments, and the use of buprenorphine and partial psychiatric hospitalization programs as treatment for OUD. Features statistics including population-adjusted emergency department rates per 100 people from 2005-2016 and opioid-related emergency room visit rates per 100,000 people in 2006 and 2013, with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
view details
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
view details
Geographic Disparities in Access to Specialty Care Programs for Early Psychosis in Washington State
Presents a study on the accessibility by neighborhood characteristics to mental health services in areas served by the Community Mental Health Block grant in Washington State. Compares neighborhood characteristics by metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural/small town areas, such as the rate of African American and Hispanic residents, the rate of population aged 15-40, and the rate of socioeconomic neighborhood deprivation.
Author(s): Oladunni Oluwoye, Solmaz Amiri, Gordon Kordas, et al.
Citation: Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 49, 5-12
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
view details
Exceptional Survival Among Kentucky Stage IV Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Appalachian Versus Non-Appalachian Populations
Explores a study on rates of exceptional survival (5 years or more post-diagnosis) of stage IV lung cancer patients in Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentucky. Breaks down data by insurance type, treatment type, and length of survival, among other measures.
Author(s): Vira Pravosud, Nathan L. Vanderford, Bin Huang, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(1), 14-27
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
view details
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
view details
Integrating Serious Illness Care into Primary Care Delivery: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes presentations and discussions from a June 2021 workshop on challenges and opportunities to integrate serious illness care into primary care settings. Covers the shared principles of primary and serious illness care, the interdisciplinary teams in each discipline, policy issues that serve as barriers or incentives, and best practices. Includes examples of integrating serious illness care into primary care settings in rural areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
Coordinated Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Pharmaceutical Care Telehealth for People with Parkinson Disease in Rural Communities: An Exploratory, 8-Week Cohort Study for Feasibility, Safety, and Signal of Efficacy
Study examining telehealth care for rural patients with Parkinson disease based on an evaluation of a telehealth pilot with 15 participants in Wyoming and Nevada. Evaluates outcomes related to speech therapy, physiotherapy, pharmaceutical care components of the program, and discusses the signal of efficacy for the intervention.
Author(s): Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker, Merrill R. Landers, Annalisa Piccorelli, Erin Bush, Reshmi Singh
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 22, 6679
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
view details
The Use of Telehealth for Disability Evaluation in Medicine and Allied Health: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes presentations and discussions held during a March 2022 workshop regarding the use of telehealth for patient evaluation. Provides an overview of telehealth policy broadly and within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Explores the use of telehealth in a range of clinical specialties; telehealth access and digital inclusion and equity; the experiences of U.S. healthcare systems in deploying telehealth; and licensure, privacy, and security issues.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
Attitudes and Perceived Barriers Toward Store-and-Forward Teledermatology among Primary Care Providers of the Rural Mississippi
Explores the utilization of teledermatology to make dermatology care accessible in rural and underserved areas of Mississippi. Discusses perceived barriers based on 34 primary care provider surveys, such as time investment to learn the technology and time required to submit a teledermatology consult.
Author(s): Summer Morrissette, Ross L. Pearlman, Margaret Kovar, et al.
Citation: Archives of Dermatological Research, 314, 37-40
Date: 2022
Type: Document
view details
The Rural Health Safety Net Under Pressure: Understanding the Potential Impact of COVID-19
Examines the stability of the rural health safety net at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outlines key factors that will influence the impact of COVID-19 on rural healthcare, including access to intensive care unit beds, outpatient service revenues, and rural provider days cash on hand. Highlights provisions of the CARES Act aimed at mitigating the impact of the pandemic on rural hospitals.
Date: 2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
view details