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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Telehealth

Report to Congress: E-health and Telemedicine
Reports the state of e-health and telemedicine after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Includes current policy challenges, discussion of federal level telehealth activity, and a legislative proposal for FY17.
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Telehealth Parity Laws
Policy brief discussing federal and state activities related to telehealth, as well as Medicaid and private insurer reimbursement for telehealth services. Identifies the arguments in favor of and against paying for telehealth at parity with in-person care. Discusses the role telehealth can play in rural access to healthcare.
Citation: Health Affairs
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
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Home-Based Cardiac Care for Rural Veterans
Video describing the Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Focuses on individualized care for rural veterans through cardiac telehealth. This program allows for one-on-one care for patients who cannot come for traditional clinic rehab appointments due to geographic isolation, transportation challenges, or other impediments.
Date: 08/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Project ECHO's Complex Care Initiative: Building Capacity to Help "Superutilizers" in Underserved Communities
Describes a case study from the University of New Mexico's Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) program, which uses telehealth to support primary care clinicians in underserved areas. Focuses on a project targeting Medicaid beneficiaries with substance abuse and mental health issues, with details on two primary care teams being supported, including one in a rural New Mexico community.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein, Douglas McCarthy
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Madison Outreach and Services through Telehealth (MOST) Network
Video featuring the Madison Outreach Services through Telehealth (MOST) Network, which serves the Hispanic/Latino population of Brazos Valley, Texas. Highlights their partnership with Texas A&M's Telehealth Counseling Clinic, where doctoral-level students and promotoras connect with patients in remote clinics to offer mental health and substance abuse counseling.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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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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Telehealth: Mapping the Evidence for Patient Outcomes From Systematic Reviews
Presents a literature review and resulting evidence map for telehealth impacts on clinical outcomes for use by policymakers and other healthcare leaders. Identifies key areas that lack evidence-based research and suggests future studies needed to aid systematic review.
Author(s): Annette M. Totten, Dana M. Womack, Karen B. Eden, et al.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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A Pilot Videoconference Group Stress Management Program in Cancer Survivors: Lessons Learned
Discusses the advantages and barriers of developing and implementing a group-based videoconference program that provides interventions to improve the psychosocial outcomes of rural cancer patients following treatment.
Author(s): Eric Zhou, Ann H. Partridge, Jaime E. Blackmon, Evan Morgan, Christopher J. Recklitis
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 16(2), 3863
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2016
Includes chapters on pricing and payment systems, Medicare drug spending, Part B drug and oncology payment policy issues, improving Part D, improving efficiency and preserving access to emergency care in rural areas, telehealth services and Medicare, and issues affecting dual-eligible beneficiaries. Rural providers and rural patient populations are discussed throughout the report.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Utilization of Telemedicine Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Demonstrates the trends in the use of telemedicine utilization by rural Medicare beneficiaries between 2004 and 2013. Data is derived from Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes or telemedicine-specific codes, using Medicare's definition for rural. Includes a table comparing patient characteristics for Medicare beneficiaries with and without a telemedicine visit in 2013.
Author(s): Ateev Mehrotra, Anupam B. Jena, Alisa B. Busch, et al.
Citation: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 315(18), 2015–2016
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
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