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Healthcare Access in Rural Communities – Resources

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

Rural Healthy People 2020: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2020, Volume 1
Provides a rural focus for the Healthy People 2020 priorities. Includes overviews of the top 10 rural health priority areas identified by rural stakeholders. (Volume 2 discusses priorities 11-20.) Topics addressed include: health insurance, primary care, emergency services, nutrition and weight status, diabetes, mental health, substance abuse, heart disease and stroke, physical activity, older adults, maternal and child health, and tobacco use. Each overview includes reviews of the relevant literature and models that rural communities can use to address the issues. Document is available for free download, after providing brief information about intended use.
Author(s): Jane N. Bolin, Gail Bellamy, Alva O. Ferdinand, Bita Kash, Janet W. Helduser
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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The 2014 Update of the Rural-Urban Chartbook
Updates information presented in Health, United States, 2001: With Urban and Rural Health Chartbook. Highlights current trends and disparities across different levels of metro and nonmetropolitan counties, including population characteristics; health-related behaviors and risk factors; mortality rates; healthcare access and use; mental health measures; and other health measures such as teen birth rates, tooth loss, and activity limitations due to chronic disease. Individual data tables are available in an Excel file.
Author(s): Michael Meit, Alana Knudson, Tess Gilbert, et al.
Date: 10/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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Expanding the Dental Team: Increasing Access to Care in Public Settings
Looks at 3 examples of midlevel dental providers working to expand care to underserved populations. Highlights three practices in Minnesota, California, and Alaska, the latter deploying dental health aide therapists to distant rural locations.
Date: 06/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pew Charitable Trusts
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Evaluation of the Medicare Frontier Extended Stay Clinic Demonstration: Report to Congress
Reports on the results of a Medicare Frontier Extended Stay Clinic (FESC) demonstration project that used an enhanced clinic model in frontier areas to address the needs of seriously ill or injured patients who could not be transferred to a hospital or needed monitoring and observation for a limited period of time. Includes an overview of the demonstration and key findings from the project.
Date: 2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Health Status and Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations
Discusses healthcare access and health status in rural areas. Describes health risks farm families experience due to their work environment.
Additional links: Report Summary
Author(s): Carol Adaire Jones, Timothy S. Parker, Mary Ahearn, Ashok K. Mishra, Jayachandran N. Variyam
Date: 08/2009
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Why Are Fewer Hospitals in the Delivery Business?
Examines the declining availability of hospital-based obstetric services in rural areas from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s. Examines potential causes for this trend and explores the effects of medical malpractice reforms.
Author(s): Lan Zhao
Date: 04/2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Medicaid Primary Care Workforce Tracker
Interactive tool presenting state and county-level data on the primary care workforce providing healthcare to Medicaid enrollees. Uses data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) from 2016-2019 to identify primary care clinicians who saw Medicaid beneficiaries each year.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity
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Exploring the Health Care Challenges Rural Americans Face Across 5 States
Articles from Rural RX, a series intended to explore the forces that shape rural health care in America. Features programs in Alabama, Texas, Colorado, New York, and West Virginia.
Author(s): Nicole Ellis, William Brangham, Caleb Hellerman
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: PBS News Hour
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Medicaid/CHIP Coverage by School Districts, 2018-2022
Provides data on the percent of children covered by Medicaid/CHIP by school district, with separate, searchable lists for each state.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
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March of Dimes Maternity Care Deserts Dashboard
Depicts county-level access to maternity care, access to hospitals with obstetric care or birth centers, and access to obstetric providers across the U.S. Allows user to select for demographic information such as age, race/ethnicity, education and household composition, and prevalence of health conditions and behaviors. Includes data on total births by county.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 6/6/2024