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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

Disparities in Continuous Glucose Monitor Use Between Children With Type 1 Diabetes Living in Urban and Rural Areas
Examines the uptake of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology in children with type 1 diabetes. Utilizes 2018-2021 electronic health record (EHR) data to observe CGM use according to patient sex, race/ethnicity, age, insurance type, and rurality. Discusses disparities among rural and urban populations.
Author(s): Daniel R. Tilden, Benjamin French, Karishma A. Datye, Sarah S. Jaser
Citation: Diabetes Care, 47(3), 346-352
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
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Prevent or Treat: Availability of Diabetes Self-Management Education and Dialysis in High Need Rural Counties
Discusses availability of diabetes self-management education (DSME) and dialysis to treat end stage kidney disease in rural areas. Features county-level maps showing estimated proportion of the adult population with diabetes, counties with at least one DSME program, and DSME availability and county diabetes prevalence. Includes statistics on relationship between DSME availability within a county and estimated percent of adults with diabetes by rurality, as of 2022.
Author(s): Janice C. Probst, Nicholas Yell, Gabriel Benavidez, et al.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Hearing on Enhancing Access to Care at Home in Rural and Underserved Communities
Recording of a March 12, 2024, House Committee on Ways and Means hearing regarding opportunities and challenges to enhance access to care in patients' homes and modernizing care in rural and underserved communities, with a focus on telehealth and health information technology. Features testimony from two rural patients and representatives from Intermountain Health; Cadence, a company with expertise in chronic care management through remote physiologic monitoring; and Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Additional links: Ateev Mehrotra, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Testimony, Bell Maddux, Home Dialysis Patient - Testimony, Chris Altchek, Cadence - Testimony, Nathan Starr, Intermountain Health - Testimony, Roy Underhill, Hospital at Home Patient - Testimony
Date: 03/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Ways and Means Committee
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Association Between a Network-Based Physician Linchpin Score and Cancer Patient Mortality: A Seer-Medicare Analysis
Presents a study on patient-sharing networks among multidisciplinary teams treating cancer patients and, specifically, the oncologists hold these networks together as "linchpins". Discusses these linchpin oncologists and evaluates the effect they have on cancer outcomes. Explores the affect this has on patients with a number of variables, including living in a rural area.
Author(s): Erika L Moen, Rachel O Schmidt, Tracy Onega, et al.
Citation: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 116(2), 230-238
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
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Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) 2020-2024 Telehealth Network Grant Program (TNGP) Performance Improvement and Measurement System (PIMS): Summary Report for Program Year 3 (September 1, 2022 - August 31, 2023)
Summarizes findings from the first three years of the 2020-2024 Telehealth Network Grant Program (TNGP), which aims to promote tele-emergency services by enhancing telehealth networks to deliver 24-hour emergency department (ED) consultation services via telehealth to rural providers without emergency care specialists. Presents data on grantee network characteristics, the number of originating and distant sites, specialty areas, averted transfers, ED and hospital readmissions, other uses of the telehealth network, and more.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Georgia Health Policy Center, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth
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Beneficiary and Clinician Perspectives on Medicare and Other Issues: Findings from 2023 Focus Groups in Select States
Summarizes findings from 24 focus groups of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible) beneficiaries, and clinicians conducted between May and July 2023, including three virtual focus groups of rural Medicare beneficiaries. Highlights themes that emerged across the focus groups covering Medicare coverage options, access to care, telehealth, organization of care, and prescription drugs.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review Measures Under Consideration: 2023 Recommendations Report
Reviews the 42 pre-rulemaking quality measures the Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) considered during the 2023-2024 Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) cycle. Discusses measures for clinician, hospital, and post-acute care/long-term care programs. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Unrelenting Pressure Pushes Rural Safety Net Crisis Into Uncharted Territory
Examines financial and operational metrics for rural hospitals. Discusses the growth of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment in rural communities between 2019 and 2023, the impact of MA on rural hospital reimbursement, how the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can provide a path forward for some rural facilities, and the discontinuation of obstetrics and chemotherapy services at rural hospitals since 2011. Includes the percentage of rural hospitals in each state vulnerable to closure and nine factors significantly associated with rural hospital vulnerability.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Chartis Center for Rural Health Research & Resources for the 2024 National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute Conference
Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Unrelenting Pressure Pushes Rural Safety Net Crisis into Uncharted Territory, Rural America's OB Deserts Widen in Fallout From Pandemic, and presentation slides on this report from the 2024 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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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. Transcript available below description.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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