November 6, 2024
From the 2036 physician supply predictions: 6% shortage in urban, but 56% in rural. With supply influenced by 100 years of attitudes, health policies, and federal funding, this historical review leads up to the recent decades of new federal funding and policies that experts said will be changing this geographic maldistribution of physicians.
October 26, 2022
After a 1965 public law created the Medicare and Medicaid programs, many rural residents insured by these government health programs were unable to access care. This challenge was remedied by another public law: the Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977. Using a historical framework, rural health policy experts, researchers, and clinicians reviewed the Act's impact on outpatient healthcare delivery in rural America.
October 26, 2022
Over 5,200 rural organizations participate in the Rural Health Clinics program, a reimbursement model dedicated to rural low-volume healthcare delivery and now in its 45th year. The National Association of Rural Health Clinics — in its 30th year — is a membership organization that emerged as the program increased its participants. Bill Finerfrock, association cofounder and its recently retired executive director, shared the group's origin story as well as touchpoints from his own career.
August 11, 2021
"Swing bed" is that oft-heard phrase describing not a physical hospital bed, but post-acute care for the rural patient who is well enough to leave the acute care hospital but not well enough to be safe at home. In this 2-part story, experts and hospital administrators review the swing bed program's historical implementation and provide stories and examples of the value this over 40-year-old healthcare delivery and reimbursement model brings to patients, to the hospitals providing their care, and ultimately to rural communities.
August 11, 2021
The healthcare delivery model known as the swing bed program has allowed rural and Critical Access Hospitals to serve patients by keeping them in their rural communities for post-acute care. Reviewing the history of this program, experts describe early implementation and key program elements that have sustained its success for over 40 years.
May 20, 2020
Brock Slabach, the National Rural Health Association's Senior Vice President for Member Services, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on rural America's healthcare organizations.
March 11, 2020
Libraries in South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington work to improve their communities' health by providing monthly programs and teaching patrons and staff how to access reliable health information online.
July 26, 2017
Mario Gutierrez, MPH, Executive Director of the Center for Connected Health Policy's National Telehealth Policy Resource Center, discusses the important role telehealth plays for rural patients in delivering healthcare directly to their homes and communities.
July 26, 2017
Gary Capistrant, MPA, Chief Policy Officer of the American Telemedicine Association, explains potential federal changes, the possibility of a national telehealth network, and collaboration between healthcare providers may be keys to telehealth's success.
November 30, 2016
First conceptualized in the 1970s, but not widely adopted in rural communities, freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs) have been getting another look as a sustainable rural option. This article discusses hospital-based versus independent FSEDs, the model's financial viability, and highlights two FSEDs meeting their communities' healthcare needs in Arizona and Illinois.
