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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

Breaking the Barriers to Specialty Care: Practical Ideas to Improve Health Equity and Reduce Cost
Collection of briefs focused on how to improve access to specialty care for rural and low-income patients. Discusses telehealth, developing primary care capacity to provide appropriate specialty care, and coordinated specialist networks as approaches to improve specialty care access. Free, but registration required to download.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, FSG
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Challenges of Rural Cancer Care in the United States
Highlights the impact of rurality affecting the care of rural cancer patients and healthcare providers treating cancer patients. Discussion includes the availability of cancer specialists, limited transportation services, lower socioeconomic status, health insurance coverage, less access to clinical trials, and the shortage of palliative and end-of-life staff and services.
Author(s): Mary Charlton, Jennifer Schlichting, Catherine Chioreso, et al.
Citation: Oncology (Williston Park), 29(9), 633-640
Date: 09/2015
Type: Document
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Telepsychiatry for Neurocognitive Testing in Older Rural Latino Adults
Examines two methods of neurocognitive assessments, telepsychiatry and in-person, using the same Spanish-language battery for testing to determine whether they are comparable among Spanish-speaking older adults in a rural setting. Includes telepsychiatry and in-person assessment data by education, acculturation, health literacy, depression, and a mini mental state exam.
Author(s): Ipsit V. Vahia, Bernardo Ng, Alvaro Camacho, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(7), 666-670
Date: 07/2015
Type: Document
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Adjacent Border Analysis for Direct Patient Care Physicians
Provides an analysis of direct patient care physicians practicing along the North Dakota border using 2011 data from the American Medical Association physician master file.
Author(s): Gary Hart, Mandi-Leigh Peterson, Abdimajid Ahmed
Date: 04/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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The 21st Century Rural Hospital: A Chart Book
Presents an extensive overview of the rural hospital of the 21st century. Discusses how rural hospitals have transformed from a traditional inpatient and emergency department facility to an integrated health system providing a wide variety of services. Contains sections with data about U.S. rural hospitals, the patient population, inpatient and outpatient services and finance.
Author(s): Victoria A. Freeman, Kristie Thompson, H. Ann Howard, Randy Randolph, G. Mark Holmes
Date: 03/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Rural Health Care: Redefining Access
Discusses collaboration, recruitment and retention, providing specialty services and quality of care as methods to strengthen the health of North Carolina's rural communities.
Author(s): Chris Collins
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 76(1), 20-23
Date: 01/2015
Type: Document
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Population-Based Geographic Access to Endocrinologists in the United States, 2012
Describes the variability in geographic accessibility to endocrinologists in the U.S. Provides analysis by age group at the state and county-levels, rural versus urban, and travel time to receive care.
Author(s): Hua Lu, James B. Holt, Yiling J. Cheng, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 15, 541
Date: 2015
Type: Document
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Geriatrician and Other Physician Disciplines as the Usual Source of Care for Rural and Urban Older Adults: 2004-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Discusses rates that rural and urban older adults use family practitioners, internists, or geriatricians as their usual source care using data from the 2004 to 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Author(s): Wei-Chen Lee, Ciro V. Sumaya
Citation: Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy, 10(1), 1-17
Date: 2015
Type: Document
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Project ECHO: Bridging the Gap in Health Care for Rural and Underserved Communities
Discusses the Project ECHO model and how it allows physicians, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians to jointly manage complex illness and promotes the use of best practices in care, while enabling patients to receive treatment in their rural communities.
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Rural Veterans: A Special Concern for Rural Health Advocates
Policy brief describing the special healthcare needs of rural veterans. Offers policy recommendations to address these issues. Covers access to primary care, specialty care, physical therapy, women's health services, and mental health services focusing on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Author(s): J. Alison Alfers, Hilda R. Heady
Date: 02/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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