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Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Health Care's Role in Rural Economic Development: How Broadband Can Improve Health Outcomes
Policy brief exploring how lack of broadband infrastructure and adaptation in rural areas limits access to healthcare. Includes recommendations for policies and actions to improve the rural broadband infrastructure and promote telehealth.
Author(s): Jeremy Cannon
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Analysis of Hospital Operating Margins and Provision of Safety Net Services
Explores the association between five hospital safety net services - undercompensated care measured using the Disproportionate Share Hospital index, uncompensated care, essential community services, and Sole Community Hospital and Critical Access Hospital status - and hospital operating margins. Includes information on the relationship between bed count, Census region, urban/rural location, ownership status, and having a Graduate Medical Education residency program with operating margins.
Author(s): Lukas K. Gaffney, Kenneth A. Michelson
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(4), e238785
Date: 04/2023
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Examining Existing Federal Programs to Build a Stronger Health Workforce and Improve Primary Care
Recording of an April 2023 U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on federal government programs and legislation related to supporting the healthcare workforce and improving primary care. Features testimony from Carole Johnson, the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Includes discussions on the rural health workforce throughout.
Additional links: Carole Johnson, Health Resources and Services Administration - Testimony
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
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Better Together: Rural Hospital High-Value Networks
Examines how rural hospital high-value networks can create economies of scale and value-based care capacity in order to enter into value-based payment contracts.
Author(s): Clint MacKinney, Nate White, Brett Norell
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Surveillance of the Initiation of, Participation in, and Completion of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Minnesota, 2017–2018
Analyzes cardiac rehabilitation (CR) disparities in Minnesota related to eligibility, initiation, participation, and completion of CR. Examines 12,937 Minnesota All Payer Claims Database members who qualified for CR, with data broken down by county, demographics, type of health insurance, comorbidities, social vulnerability, qualifying condition, Rural-Urban Commuting Area code, and more.
Author(s): James M. Peacock, Emily Styles, Sara Johnson, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 20
Date: 04/2023
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Association Between Broadband Capacity and Telehealth Utilization Among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Evaluates the relationship between broadband access and telehealth utilization throughout the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, from January through September 2020, by merging county-level data from 3,107 counties focused on broadband capacity, telehealth utilization by Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries, rural-urban residence, and demographic characteristics.
Author(s): Ambrish A. Pandit, Ruchira V. Mahashabde, Clare C. Brown, et al.
Citation: Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 2023
Date: 04/2023
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The Rural Behavioral Health Crisis Continuum: Considerations and Emerging State Strategies
Presents examples of state strategies for bolstering the rural behavioral health crisis care continuum at each level of care.
Author(s): Miriam Pearsall, Sandra Wilkniss
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Influences on Lung Cancer Screening Initiation and Retention in Rural Alabama
Examines the facilitators of lung cancer screening initiation and retention in mostly Black and rural areas of Alabama. Provides feedback from 58 interviews with people who had a lung cancer screening between December 2019 and January 2022. Includes data on patient demographics, reasons for being screened, and intention to screen annually.
Author(s): Amy Copeland, Kathy Levy, Claudia M. Hardy, Jennifer C. King, Maureen Rigney
Citation: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 14
Date: 04/2023
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Rewards and Frustrations of Rural Surgery Practice
Discusses challenges in rural surgery practice, such as demographic trends, workforce shortages, issues with surgical training, rural hospital closures, and economic pressures. Includes a link to video featuring Michael Sarap and Alisha D. Reiss, of the American College of Surgeons.
Author(s): Michael Sarap, Alisha D. Reiss
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: American College of Surgeons
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Engaging Primary Care in Value-Based Payment: New Findings from the 2022 Commonwealth Fund Survey of Primary Care Physicians
Describes the results of the 2022 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Physicians regarding fee-for-service and value-based payment models. Highlights trends between smaller, rural practices and larger, urban ones and discusses implications on quality of care.
Author(s): Celli Horstman, Corinne Lewis
Date: 04/2023
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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