Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by State: Colorado

Evaluation of the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents-Payment Reform
Third annual report evaluating a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Innovation payment model intended to reduce avoidable hospitalizations for long-term care nursing facility residents by offering incentives for the provision of in-house care to eligible residents, rather than a transfer to a hospital for treatment. Presents details on the effect of the payment model on Medicare expenditures in the participating states: Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania. Discusses the implication of the payment model in rural facilities.
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
Intergovernmental Advisory Committee to the Federal Communications Commission Advisory Recommendation No: 2019-2 in the Matter of State, Local Tribal, and Territorial Regulatory and Other Barriers and Incentives to Telemedicine
Examines the technical infrastructure necessary for effective telemedicine delivery in state, territorial, tribal, and local (rural and urban) areas. Discusses the regulatory barriers including legislation, licensing, reimbursement, malpractice insurance, and privacy that obstruct its development and utilization, and offers recommendations addressing these barriers. Appendix A presents case studies of broadband and telehealth development in several states and territories.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Federal Communications Commission, Intergovernmental Advisory Committee to the Federal Communications Commission
view details
Enhancing Services for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deafblind Patients in Rural America
Discusses the barriers to care that rural patients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind face, including lack of accommodations and inadequate clinician training. Features a Michigan clinic with American Sign Language-fluent staff, a New Jersey state division providing deaf sensitivity training, and a Colorado program that brings interpreters to rural communities.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Merging to Overcome Challenges in Colorado
Details the merging of 2 frontier county health departments located in the Colorado Rockies. Discusses the benefits of the merger in terms of resources and services, funding, staff sharing, peer support, and more.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Sharing Public Health Services
view details
Traumatic Injury and Access to Care in Rural Areas: Leveraging Linked Data and Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Advocacy
Analyzes county-level data representing traumatic injury rates in rural Colorado. Discusses challenges to trauma care in rural areas, including distance to trauma centers, rates of injury, prevention resources, EMS response times, and limited EMS capacity. Includes county-level maps showing transportation time to trauma centers, mortality rates, and hospitalization rates for traumatic injury.
Author(s): Paula Yuma, Rebecca Orsi, Julie Dunn, et al.
Citation: Rural Remote Health, 19(3), 5089
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
view details
Use of Apprenticeship to Meet Demand for Medical Assistants in the U.S.
Reports findings from a study of registered medical assistant (MA) apprenticeship programs in 12 states. Discusses the workforce needs these programs may help address, including workforce needs in rural communities. Describes the programs and discusses challenges with starting and maintaining MA apprenticeship programs.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): Andrew D. Jopson, Susan M. Skillman, Bianca K. Frogner
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
view details
Home Equity: A Vision of Housing Security, Health and Opportunity
Provides data demonstrating the interrelationship between housing insecurity and health equity. Examines how policies and racism have impacted housing stability in Colorado's rural, urban, and suburban communities. Looks at the challenges to housing security faced by communities of color, undocumented immigrants, people with disabilities, families with children, low income households, rural communities, and homelessness populations. Suggests housing policies that may impact communities and improve housing security.
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Health Institute
view details
Working Together to Improve Environmental Health in Colorado
Discusses the process of 3 rural and 3 frontier counties in Colorado partnering to provide environmental health services for their local areas. Features the results of the collaboration as well as strategies to create successful partnerships and governance.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Sharing Public Health Services
view details
2019 Medicaid and Commercial Access to Care Index: How Payer Type Influences Coloradans' Access to Needed Health Care
Provides information on healthcare access through both Medicaid and private insurers, as well as several other factors to determine whether the health needs of Colorado residents are being met. Measures improvement in healthcare access based on three components of access: potential access, barriers to care, and realized access. Features data breakdown by county.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Health Institute
view details
Mental Health Crisis in Colorado
Explores mental healthcare access in Colorado. News series from The Gazette details Colorado's mental healthcare system for youth, veterans, jails, and in rural areas, among other areas of disparity.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: The Gazette
view details