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Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Integrating Care through Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs): Opportunities and Challenges
Examines state and federal policy options for increasing alignment and integration of people eligible for Medicare and Medicaid through Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs). Reviews the literature on the topic, provides case studies from 5 states, reports on a meeting with officials from states working on D-SNPs, and addresses challenges for offering D-SNPs in rural areas.
Author(s): Nancy Archibald, Michelle Soper, Leah Smith, Alexandra Kruse, Joshua Wiener
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Small Area Health Insurance Estimates: 2017
Reports on health insurance coverage in the U.S. in 2017 and changes between 2016 and 2017, as well as changes between 2013 and 2017. Includes maps showing county-level uninsured rates.
Author(s): Lauren Bowers, Carolyn Gann
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Patterns of Care and Home Health Utilization for Community-Admitted Medicare Patients
Focuses on differences between community-admitted and post-acute care Medicare home health patients over time in order to identify reasons for the increase in community-admitted patients. Addresses differences in rural/urban residency in Tables B.1. and E.1., as well as whether the county of residence is a primary care shortage area.
Author(s): Andrea Wysocki, Valerie Cheh
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Grantee Spotlight: Good News for Nacogdoches County, Texas!
Spotlights a grantee of the Hogg Foundation's Collaborative Approaches to Well-Being in Rural Communities initiative, Nacogdoches County Community Collaborative. Highlights their goal of creating a trauma-informed community to promote wellness.
Author(s): Josephine Gurch
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
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Electronic Capabilities for Patient Engagement among U.S. Non-Federal Acute Care Hospitals: 2013-2017
Describes hospital trends regarding patients' ability to view, download, and transmit (VDT) electronic health information and other capabilities related to online patient engagement. Provides data and analysis by hospital type, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and rural hospitals, on the percent of: hospitals where patients can VDT their health data electronically; active patient portals; and hospitals offering electronic capabilities to their patients, such as refill requests, bill pay, and other services.
Author(s): JaWanna Henry, Wes Barker, Lolita Kachay
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Oral Health: Targeting Rural Areas
Compiles articles from a special issue of the Texas Public Health Journal focusing on rural oral health in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Covers emergency department use in Texas for oral health needs in rural versus urban counties, geriatric oral health and workforce options such as teledentistry, a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment project under a state waiver targeting rural communities, partnerships to reach underserved areas and pregnant women, and oral health initiatives in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Citation: Texas Public Health Journal, 71(2), 2-16
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Texas Public Health Association
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Making Informed Decisions about Rural EMS
Provides an overview of the Informed Self-Determination Process, which can help a rural community make an informed decision about the level of emergency medical services (EMS) response the community wants and will support. Highlights how this approach was used in St. George, Maine.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Surgery Call Coverage: Innovative Locoregional Solutions Can Fill the Gap
Features rural locum tenens systems as possible templates to help provide call coverage for rural surgeons. Highlights a successful pilot Canadian Rural Locum Tenens Project and a collaboration with a surgical group in Ohio that helped provide surgical coverage for area rural hospitals.
Author(s): Stephen Hiscock, Michael Sarap
Citation: Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, 104(4), 52-54
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
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Disabilities in the U.S. Farm Population
Reports summary information on disability rates among farmers and farmworkers between 2008 and 2016. Includes some state-specific information.
Author(s): Cristina Miller
Citation: Amber Waves
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Promising Practice: Community Cafes in Alaska Give People a Say in Their Health Care
Provides an overview of the first community cafe sponsored by the Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) in Petersburg, Alaska, and facilitated by the Alaska State Office of Rural Health (AK-SORH). Covers the thought process behind the AK-SORH's idea to facilitate community cafes across the state. Describes the goals of community cafes: to educate and receive feedback on a topic chosen by the community, and learn more about the community's health needs.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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