July 24, 2024
For decades, community health workers (CHWs) provided their services outside usual healthcare reimbursement models. In recent years, with research supporting CHWs as professionals effectively assisting patients with navigating health-related social determinants, federal and private payers are exploring reimbursement mechanisms. Four rural healthcare organizations share both the impact and the continued sustainability challenges — and successes — of their CHW programs.
April 28, 2021
Fast, reliable broadband is essential for people to access telehealth and patient portals as well as work and study from home, but rural and tribal areas fall behind urban and suburban areas in terms of broadband deployment and speed. Organizations in Alabama, Colorado, and Kentucky share how broadband affects their work and their patients' care.
January 22, 2020
Over 40% of today's physicians are burned out. A closer look at research indicates that not only is this a system problem rather than an individual problem, but that burnout impacts a system's revenue streams, healthcare quality, and patient safety and satisfaction. Experts suggest the problem may even be of more concern in rural areas.
December 18, 2019
With national standards now available for voluntary accreditation, rural public health departments need to determine the feasibility of that activity for their organization. The Public Health Accreditation Board President and CEO joins researchers and experts to share information about accreditation and how rural health departments can achieve that designation.
December 18, 2019
Governance, organizational size, and other factors may impact rural local health departments' ability to take on voluntary accreditation. In addition to a brief review of these issues, accreditation officials, professional societies, and researchers share how they are working together to better understand these challenges in order to foster equity for all public health departments desiring accreditation.
September 25, 2019
Vaccination rates for rural children and adolescents are lower than for their urban counterparts. A nurse practitioner in Louisiana and a former professor in Kentucky share how they've increased vaccination rates in their communities.
October 17, 2018
In this in-depth story, multiple clinical issues surrounding domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural settings are discussed by providers, researchers, and those serving indigenous populations. Rural prevalence rates, provider knowledge gaps, and healthcare expenditures are also reviewed.
September 19, 2018
Electronic health records are central to rural healthcare providers' and organizations' transition to value-based care. Several rural organizations are using their EHR data to make changes for the patient populations they serve.
September 5, 2018
As more federal dollars are directed toward the opioid crisis, three communities use grant funds for treatment and recovery care coordination in court, prisons, and the homes of new moms.
May 2, 2018
Post-acute care (PAC) services available locally can make fully recovering from a serious illness or injury faster and easier, setting the patient and provider up for the best possible outcome. This article looks at how a tertiary facility's communication with skilled nursing facilities, a Critical Access Hospital's swing bed program, and a home health agency are improving patient transitions from acute care to PAC.
