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Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

340B Drug Discount Program: Increased Oversight Needed to Ensure Nongovernmental Hospitals Meet Eligibility Requirements
Provides an overview of the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) review of 258 nongovernmental hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and their contracts with state and local governments. Evaluates the contracts to determine if they meet the eligibility requirement to serve low-income individuals. Outlines weaknesses in the Health Resources and Services Administration's review of the hospital contracts and offers six recommendations to improve the contract review process.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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A Shrinking Primary Care Workforce in Puerto Rico
Discusses Puerto Rico's aging primary care workforce and concerns about the number of healthcare professionals who have left the island following the 2017 hurricane and the relatively low recruitment and retention rate for graduates of Puerto Rico's residency programs. Features statistics showing primary care physician age distribution in Puerto Rico compared with the rest of the United States in 2018.
Author(s): Elizabeth Wilkinson, David Killeen, Gabriel José Pérez-López, Yalda Jabbarpour
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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Availability of Grocery Delivery to Food Deserts in States Participating in the Online Purchase Pilot
Research letter describing a study of the Online Purchase Pilot (OPP), which allows beneficiaries in 8 states to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy groceries online. Includes statistics on the availability of grocery delivery among rural food desert census tracts and SNAP households in the 8 OPP states.
Author(s): Eric J. Brandt, David M. Silvestri, Jerold R. Mandi, Margaret L. Holland, Joseph S. Ross
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(12)
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Comparison of Rural vs Urban Direct-to-Physician Commercial Promotion of Medications for Treating Opioid Use Disorder
Results of a cross-sectional county-level study using all reported direct-to-physician pharmaceutical payments from manufacturers of opioid use disorder medications from 2014-2017, as well as demographic and economic data from 3,140 counties. Features statistics with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas.
Author(s): Thuy Nguyen, Barbara Andraka-Christou, Kosali Simon, W. David Bradford
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(12)
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Assessing Indoor Environmental Control Practices by Race/Ethnicity Among Children With Asthma in 14 US States and Puerto Rico, 2013-2014
Results of a study measuring the association between race/ethnicity and practices such as use of air filters or pillow covers, using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey Child Questionnaire. Features demographic statistics with breakdowns by a group of 14 states and Puerto Rico.
Author(s): Faye M. Rozwadowski, Ginger L. Chew, Hatice S. Zahran, Melissa L. Santorelli
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Health Care Workforce: Views on Expanding Medicare Graduate Medical Education Funding to Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Describes the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program. Provides an overview of current federal funding for physician, nurse practitioner (NP), and physician assistant (PA) training. Explores the potential benefits and challenges of expanding the Medicare GME program to include funding for graduate NP and PA training.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Diabetes Prevention Program Sites Compared With Diabetes Prevalence and Ratio of Primary Care Physicians in Texas
Discusses partnerships between the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and state organizations to provide type 2 diabetes prevention education by increasing access to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs). Offers state maps that identify the county locations of DPPs in comparison to diagnosed diabetes prevalence and the ratio of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents.
Author(s): Emily Peterson Johnson, Melissa Dunn, Maria Cooper, Nimisha Bhakta
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Access to Specialty Care for Medicare Beneficiaries in Rural Communities
Findings from a voluntary online survey conducted in 2019 of 111 Rural Health Clinic (RHC) staff, from 27 states, to identify the most difficult specialty healthcare service to access, and why it is the most difficult to access. Conducts an analysis of RHC distance to the nearest hospital or clinic to determine variation in difficulty accessing specialty services.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Hannah Neprash, Carrie Henning-Smith, Mariana S. Tuttle, Ashley M. Hernandez
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Access and Capacity to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries in Rural Health Clinics
Findings from a voluntary online survey conducted in 2019 of 111 Rural Health Clinic (RHC) staff from 27 states, to better understand how they address issues on accessibility, capacity, flexibility of services, and other clinic characteristics for Medicare beneficiaries, and to identify any gaps in healthcare.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Carrie Henning-Smith, Ashley M. Hernandez, Hannah Neprash
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Responding to Crisis: Farmer Mental Health Programs in the Extension North Central Region
Provides an overview of programs and resources to address the mental health needs of farmers and farm families in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Discusses outreach efforts in the region and best practices in developing materials.
Author(s): Shoshanah Inwood, Florence Becot, Andrea Bjornestad, Carrie Henning-Smith, Andrew Alberth
Citation: Journal of Extension, 57(6)
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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