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Rural Health Information Hub

Other Case Studies and Collections of Program Examples: Emergency department and urgent care services

In addition to RHIhub's Rural Health Models and Innovations rural program examples, you may also want to browse other case studies, databases, and websites with collections of health programs.

Each resource listed below uses its own criteria for selecting program examples, which may range from programs known to be effective based on research to anecdotal accounts. In each resource, you may want to review information on the level of evidence required for a program's inclusion.

May include non-rural programs that could be applicable to rural health delivery.

'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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Remote Patient Monitoring Helps Rural Patients Recover at Home
Features Essentia Health's remote patient monitoring program, which allows patients to recover at home while still having access to medical attention. Describes how the program was used to treat COVID-19 patients, with plans to continue the program to treat other chronic diseases.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Success: Avera Holy Family Hospital, IA
Profiles the quality improvement efforts of Avera Holy Family Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital in rural Iowa. Discusses quality initiatives regarding the Emergency Department Transfer Communication (EDTC) measure, patient experience, and antibiotic stewardship.
Date: 11/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Rural Success: Pembina County Memorial Hospital, ND
Describes the quality improvement efforts of Pembina County Memorial Hospital (PCMH), a Critical Access Hospital in Pembina, North Dakota. Discusses PCMH's use of patient experience data, communication regarding emergency department transfers, and antibiotic stewardship efforts.
Date: 10/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Rural Success: Paris Community Hospital, IL
Describes the quality improvement efforts of Paris Community Hospital in rural Paris, Illinois. Highlights the success of the emergency department's communication with other departments and facilities and opportunities to improve the hospital's antibiotic stewardship.
Date: 09/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Mobile Telehealth Units and Care Coordinators Improve Emergency Care Services for Rural Arizona Patients
Features an Arizona program focused on lowering ER readmissions through care coordination and EMS telehealth services. Explains how the telehealth services are provided via mobile telehealth units. Describes how care coordination helps meet the behavioral health needs of patients with chronic diseases.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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OSF HealthCare – Peoria, IL: Connecting Health Systems and Community-Based Organizations to Improve Outcomes
Features a faith-based, 13-hospital health care system serving Illinois and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Describes OSF Center for Health - Streator, which will feature the first rural freestanding emergency department in Illinois. Discusses how OSF HealthCare is using a case management platform and working with community-based organizations to meet a wide range of patient needs.
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Virtual Urgent Care - Bryan Health, Lincoln, NE
Case study of Bryan Health ezVisit, an online diagnosis and treatment option being used by a nonprofit health system in Lincoln, Nebraska to provide healthcare services for minor conditions to surrounding rural communities.
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Ensuring Access with a Hospital's Conversion to a Freestanding Emergency Department
Outlines Ellijay, Georgia-based North Georgia Medical Center's transition from a traditional community hospital to a freestanding emergency department (ED). Shares administrative, legal, and logistical challenges that, once overcome, resulted in Piedmont Mountainside Hospital Emergency Services - a successful, community-focused, freestanding ED.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association Rural Health Services
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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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