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Rural Health Information Hub

Telehealth and Health Information Technology in Rural Healthcare – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Telehealth and Health Information Technology in Rural Healthcare.

Telehealth and the Expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, with Kathy Wibberly
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Kathy Wibberly, Director of the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center. Discusses the impact of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) on rural access to telehealth services and adjustments patients and providers can anticipate as the PHE comes to an end May 11, 2023.
Date: 04/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Inequitable Access to General and Behavioral Healthcare in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Role for Telehealth?
Examines general and behavioral healthcare access and disparities during the first year of the pandemic, using data from the 2019–2020 U.S. National Alcohol Survey and its COVID follow-up survey conducted January 30 to March 28, 2021. Explores the role of telehealth in providing an important bridge to healthcare for certain medically underserved groups during the pandemic. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Author(s): Nina Mulia, Yu Ye, Thomas K. Greenfield, et al.
Citation: Preventive Medicine, 169
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
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Whole Health Coaching to Rural Veterans through Telehealth: Advantages, Gaps, and Opportunities
Discusses the Whole Health (WH) initiative – a proactive practice using coaches to engage patients in their health and well-being, and its applicability through telehealth to offer support to rural Veterans in achieving their health goals. Analyzes the findings from data collected through interviews, national surveys and focus groups of WH coaches working with rural veterans to determine the advantages of using telehealth, gaps in telehealth usage, and opportunities for WH coaching for rural veterans.
Author(s): Kelsea LeBeau, Deepthi S. Varma, Consuelo M. Kreider, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 11
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
Provides an overview of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Describes ONC focus areas, statutory authorities, funding, and select policy considerations.
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Leveraging Telemedicine To Eliminate Outcome Disparities For Rural-Born Newborns
Presentation slides from a webinar discussing the barriers affecting care for neonatal encephalopathy in rural areas. Describes telemedicine strategies evaluating neonatal encephalopathy and methods for improving parent understanding. Identifies other applications of telemedicine appropriate for the care of newborns and children.
Additional links: Transcript
Author(s): Alexa Craig
Date: 03/2023
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers
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Teleneurology via Tablet Technology: An Effective Low-Cost Method to Increase Healthcare Accessibility
Presents a study on the use of low-cost tablets in place of more expensive "telemedicine robots" as a means of providing teleneurology services to small rural hospitals. Evaluates a hub-and-spoke teleneurology program based at Vanderbilt University Medical Center serving smaller, community-based hospitals in Kentucky and Tennessee. Draws data from physician and patient surveys.
Author(s): Kelly Harper, Claire Hanson, Bryan Eoff, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 23(1), 7591
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Implementation of a Women's Reproductive Behavioral Health Telemedicine Program: A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Facilitators In Obstetric and Pediatric Clinics
Results of a study exploring a South Carolina telemedicine program for the treatment of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Perinatal Substance Use Disorders in obstetric and pediatric providers in the outpatient community practice setting. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Katherine R. Sterba, Emily E. Johnson, Edie Douglas, et al.
Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 23, 167
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Use of Telemedicine among Office-Based Physicians, 2021
Details the usage of telemedicine by physicians who are office-based, self-employed or employed by a health system, including their specialty, participation in payment models, satisfaction with telemedicine, and continued use post-pandemic. Provides data on rural and urban physician use of telemedicine tools and platforms integrated with electronic health records (EHR).
Author(s): Yuriy Pylypchuk, Wesley Barker
Citation: ONC Data Brief, 65
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Shares the results of a study examining changes over time in rural-urban differences in telemedicine use for primary care and mental health integration services among Veterans Affairs (VA) beneficiaries. Uses data from 138 VA healthcare systems from March 2019 to December 2021. Features demographics and statistics with breakdowns by visit type and rural or urban area.
Author(s): Lucinda B. Leung, Caroline Yoo, Karen Chu, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(3)
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Disparities in Telemedicine Literacy and Access in the United States
Examines populations who have limited access to telemedicine for plastic surgery care as well as general healthcare. Utilizes data from the U.S. Census and Pew Research Institute survey to create a telemedicine literacy index (TLI) and reports results according to various demographic variables as well as via a county-level U.S. map depicting telemedicine access.
Author(s): Andrew Harris, Amit Jain, Suraj A. Dhanjani, et al.
Citation: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 151(3), 677-685
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Last Updated: 6/17/2024