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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

Rural Health: Pathway to Progress
Presents insights and perspectives from four rural healthcare leaders. Describes strategies for overcoming workforce challenges, increasing access to specialty care, and addressing cost pressures. Requires registration to download.
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Reuters Events
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Guideline-Discordant Inhaler Regimens after COPD Hospitalization: Associations with Rurality, Drive Time to Care, and Fragmented Care – a United States Cohort Study
Examines the factors related to guideline-discordant inhaler regimens following chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospitalization. Analyzes 33,785 patient inhaler prescriptions between 2017-2020 according to rurality, drive time to pulmonary specialty care, and fragmented care.
Author(s): Arianne K. Baldomero, Ken M. Kunisaki, Chris H. Wendt, et al.
Citation: The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 26
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program
Describes a pilot grant program designed to improve maternal and neonatal health in rural communities by collecting data and supporting the development of financially sustainable and coordinated network models. Aims to make maternal and obstetrics care more accessible through increased use of telehealth and specialty care. Fact sheet provides information on the activities of 3 rural networks funded through the RMOMS program.
Date: 09/2023
Type: Website
Sponsoring organizations: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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Who's Accountable? Low-Value Care Received By Medicare Beneficiaries Outside Of Their Attributed Health Systems
Examines how much low-volume care and health system spending can be attributed to fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65-years-old and older receiving care outside of the health system between 2017-2018. Explores beneficiary and health system factors associated with receiving the thirty most common low-value services, including beneficiaries' rurality and whether the low-value services originated from primary care physicians or specialists.
Author(s): Ishani Ganguli, Maia L. Crawford, Benjamin Usadi, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 42(8), 1128-1139
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Examining Rural-Urban Differences in the Availability of Hospital-Based Cardiac Services Between 2010-2020
Results of a study examining the availability of hospital-based general cardiology, diagnostic catheterization, and interventional catheterization services, and whether rural-urban differences in the availability of these services occurred between 2010 and 2020. Features statistics including differences in the proportion of hospitals offering cardiac services across metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core counties in 2010 and 2020.
Author(s): Gabriel A. Benavidez, Shanikque Barksdale, Peiyin Hung, Elizabeth Crouch
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Missing Components of Receptor Status Among Women With Invasive Breast Cancer
Examines factors related to the testing of receptors that aid in accurate prognosis and treatment of patients with invasive breast cancer. Analyzes patient data of 321,913 women for missing components of receptor status (MCRS) according to patient and clinical characteristics, such as age at diagnosis, race, insurance status, rural versus urban residence, and more.
Author(s): Julie A. Stephens, James L. Fisher, Robert Wesolowski, Electra D. Paskett
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(8)
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the End-Stage Renal Disease Payment System Update for FY 2024
Comments on a June 30, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Includes comments addressing the low-volume payment adjustment (LVPA) and recommending the development of a new payment adjustment based on geographic isolation.
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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An Examination of Practices and Barriers of Procedures Performed by Physicians in Rural Hawai'i
Surveys 47 rural Hawaiian physicians to evaluate their scope of practice for procedures and learn the barriers to performing procedures. Discusses specialty care, reimbursement, training, time management, resource access, and more.
Author(s): Joseph W. Turban, Eun Ah Cho, Weston McCue, Kelley Withy
Citation: Hawai'i Journal of Health & Social Welfare, 82(8), 183-187
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Availability of Dialysis Facilities in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas
Explores the availability of dialysis facilities nationwide across ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) categorized by rurality and racial and ethnic composition. Provides data on driving distances to the nearest dialysis facility by ZCTA rurality, minoritized ethnic and racial group category, and frontier and remote (FAR) designation.
Author(s): Janice C. Probst, Peiyin Hung, Gabriel Benavidez, Abbey Hunter, Jan M. Eberth
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Study Protocol for a Multi-Level Cross-Sectional Study on the Equitable Reach and Implementation of Coordinated Specialty Care for Early Psychosis
Examines ways to improve outreach and access to rural and underserved communities in relation to coordinated specialty care (CSC) for early psychosis. Discusses the creation of a geospatial database of CSC programs in the U.S. that includes program-level data, provider-level data, and neighborhood-level census data.
Author(s): Oladunni Oluwoye, Ari Lissau, Sheldon Stokes, et al.
Citation: Implementation Science Communications, 4, 90
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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