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Rural Health Information Hub

Healthcare Access in Rural Communities – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Healthcare Access in Rural Communities.

Rural Communities in the United States Face Persistent Disparities in Access to Orthopaedic Surgical Care
Examines trends in the proportion of orthopedic surgeons practicing in rural areas between 2013 to 2018 using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Compare National Downloadable File (PC-NDF). Identifies the proportion of rural U.S. counties with access to orthopedic surgeons. Describes the characteristics associated with surgeons practicing in a rural setting.
Author(s): Victoria S. Wu, Jenna E. Schmidt, Tarun K. Jella, et al.
Citation: The Iowa Orthopaedic Journal, 431(1), 15-21
Date: 2023
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Hidden Crisis: Pediatric Oral Health In Rural America
Highlights barriers to rural pediatric oral health, along with proposed solutions. Examines Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas, oral health literacy, and needed Medicaid reforms. Features model oral health programs in Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, and includes profiles of several rural providers.
Author(s): Michael A. Ignelzi, Tegwyn Brickhouse, Erica Caffrey, et al.
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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Health Insurance in Rural Communities, with Abigail Barker and Timothy McBride
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Abigail Barker and Timothy McBride, co-investigators at the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis. Discusses their findings about rural health insurance coverage shared in the recently published chartbook, An Insurance Profile of Rural America.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Geospatial Analysis of Access to Health Care and Internet Services in the US
Study examining access to healthcare and internet services based on 2015-2019 American Community Survey data. Discusses implementations of findings for telemedicine expansion and the need for improved internet access to address rural-urban health disparities.
Author(s): Emefah C. Loccoh, Amanda Nguyen, Gaeun Kim, Haider J. Warraich
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 5(11), e2243792
Date: 11/2022
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Health, Work, and Care in Rural America
Report examining rural access to paid leave from work, the economic impacts of limited access to paid leave, and distances to hospital-based and skilled nursing care. Offers a broad view of rural economic and health dynamics, travel burdens to access hospital-based care, and presents policy recommendations to address paid leave as a social determinant of health.
Author(s): Vicki Shabo, Hannah Friedman
Date: 11/2022
Sponsoring organization: New America
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Health Care Access and Use Among Adults With and Without Vision Impairment: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2018
Analyzes insurance status, access to usual source of care, healthcare utilization, and unmet healthcare needs due to cost among adults with vision impairment. Utilizes 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to examine 426,302 adults by age, sex, race/ethnicity, poverty level, health status and behaviors, disability type, U.S. region and territory, and metropolitan or nonmetropolitan status.
Author(s): Qi Cheng, Catherine A. Okoro, Isabel Mendez, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 19
Date: 11/2022
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Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2022
Explores maternal healthcare access and provides county-level U.S. maps that show maternity care deserts, hospitals and birth centers that offer obstetric (OB) care, distribution of OB providers, percentage of women without health insurance, percentage of births covered by Medicaid, and more. Includes rural versus urban characteristics of maternity care deserts as well as access and policy discussions specific to rural areas.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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'Filling the Cracks': How a Rural Maine Community Kept its 24/7 Urgent Care Open with Paramedics
Features a pilot program serving rural Maine where paramedics take shifts staffing the local health center after-hours and on weekends.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Health Insurance Marketplaces: Issuer Participation Trends in Non-Metropolitan Places, 2014-22
Policy brief examining the changes in Health Insurance Marketplace (HIM) plan issuers from 2014-2022. Presents statistics on the average number of issuers per county in each year for metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore counties and by region.
Author(s): Eliot Jost, Abigail Barker, Leah Kemper, et al.
Date: 08/2022
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Small Area Health Insurance Estimates: Uninsured Rates for the Population Under Age 65 in 2020
Map depicting the percentage of uninsured persons under age 65 at the county level based on 2020 data from the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program.
Date: 08/2022
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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