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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

How to Launch a Pulmonary Rehab Program
Highlights the benefits to hospitals and their community of operating rural pulmonary rehab programs, and shares practical advice and tips on how Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals can successfully build and sustain their own pulmonary rehab programs. Features Sparta Community Hospital in Illinois and Hood Memorial Hospital in Louisiana, which opened pulmonary rehab programs in 2023. Includes transcript.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Understanding COPD and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Provides an overview of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and causes, and explains how rural-based pulmonary rehabilitation services help to restore independence and quality of life in COPD patients. Highlights the prevalence of COPD in rural communities and the steps that Critical Access Hospitals and other small rural hospitals can take to improve access to much-needed pulmonary rehabilitation services. Includes transcript.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Alzheimer Disease or Other Dementias in Adult Day Services Centers, 2020
Examines the prevalence of Alzheimer disease and other dementias among adult day services center (ADSC) participants using data from the ADSC component of the 2020 National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study (NPALS). Compares the prevalence of these conditions in ADSCs that provide specialized care for dementia with other ADSCs by census region, metropolitan statistical area status, chain affiliation, and ownership type.
Author(s): Priyanka Singh, Jessica P. Lendon, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model: Second Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluation of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, incorporating analyses of home dialysis use, transplantation, acute care hospitalizations, outpatient ED visits, and hospital readmissions. Features results from interviews and surveys involving model participants and beneficiaries, and examines impacts of the ETC Model during calendar years 2021 and 2022. Includes facility-level statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Author(s): Brighita Negrusa, Jennifer Wiens, Darin Ullman, et al.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group
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Tennessee Uninsured Adult Healthcare Safety Net: 2023 Annual Report
Reports on Tennessee's uninsured population, state safety net funding, and services provided in 2023. Describes and lists safety net service locations, including community and faith-based clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and more. Provides county-by-county data on primary, oral, and specialty care population-to-provider ratios, and includes county-level maps identifying Health Resource Shortage Areas. Highlights issues affecting rural Tennessee throughout, including adequacy of healthcare and access to services.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
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Development of a Hybrid Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum for First Year Medical Students in a Rural Medical Education Program: A Pilot Study
Discusses the process of implementing a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum in a rural medical education program. Covers the development, implementation, and evaluation stages of the curriculum.
Author(s): Joshua I. Johnson, Heather Beasley, Derek Southwick, et al.
Citation: BMC Medical Education, 24, 16
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
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Modeling Early Detection and Geographic Variation in Health System Capacity for Alzheimer's Disease–Modifying Therapies
Examines the impact of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) to slow the progression of early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the availability of DMTs across the U.S. Discusses wait times for DMTs in rural versus urban areas and provides U.S. maps showing demographic and healthcare workforce supply data by county.
Author(s): Jodi L. Liu, Lawrence Baker, Annie Chen, Jessie Wang, Federico Girosi
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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The Role of Comorbidities, Medications, and Social Determinants of Health in Understanding Urban-Rural Outcome Differences among Patients with Heart Failure
Analyzes health outcomes for patients with heart failure and mitigating factors such as comorbidities, guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), and social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural versus urban areas. Utilizes data from Medicare beneficiaries who had a heart failure hospitalization between 2008 to 2017 to observe mortality rates within 30 days or 1 year, hospital readmission rates, and emergency room (ER) admissions. Discusses health outcome disparities that correlate to patient location.
Author(s): Emily P. Zeitler, Joanna Joly, Christopher G. Leggett, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(2), 386-393
Date: 2024
Type: Document
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The Breast-Imaging Operations, Practices and Systems Inventory: A Framework to Examine Mammography Facility Effects on Screening in Rural Communities
Examines how mammogram facility resources, policies, and practices in metro versus nonmetro Appalachia are related to breast cancer burden and outcomes. Analyzes survey data from 192 sites to observe catchment area mammography services such as levels of staffing and available technology, practices and policies that promote screening, and quality review processes.
Author(s): Roger T. Anderson, Marianne M. Hillemeier, Fabian T. Camacho, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(2), 282-291
Date: 2024
Type: Document
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December 2023 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2023 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for physician and other health professional services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, hospice services, outpatient dialysis services, ambulatory surgical center services, skilled nursing facilities, skilled nursing facility services, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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