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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by State: Minnesota

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Rural Health Care Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities
Presents an overview of key findings from interviews with stakeholders in eight states - Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming - regarding the rural healthcare landscape. Discusses rural hospital financial health, rural hospital transformation models, challenges facing the rural healthcare workforce, and the role of telehealth in increasing access to care. Provides recommendations aimed at further advancing the use of virtual care in all communities, including rural and frontier areas, beyond the temporary federal COVID-19 public health emergency flexibilities.
Author(s): Sabah Bhatnagar, Julia Harris, Tara Hartnett, et al.
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Minnesota Office of Rural Health and Primary Care Spotlight: Supporting Career Choices in Rural Medicine
Showcases the story of a Minnesota physician and his educational and professional journey working in rural locations. Provides resources for health professionals who choose to work in rural areas of Minnesota.
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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Rural EMS: Taking the Next Step
Discusses funding, hiring, collaboration, and policy to support emergency medical services (EMS) in rural Minnesota. Utilizes Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) survey data and interview data to discuss issues related to EMS management and sustainability. Provides charts showing recruitment and training barriers in rural versus urban areas.
Additional links: Summary
Author(s): Kelly Asche
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Policy and Development
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The Financial Health of Minnesota Hospitals and Health Systems
Reports on fiscal year 2020 financials for Minnesota hospitals and health systems. Includes information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as operating margins by urban and rural status.
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Hospital Association
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Minnesota's Health Care Workforce: Pandemic-Provoked Workforce Exits, Burnout, and Shortages
Reports on loss of healthcare professionals in Minnesota due to turnover, burnout, reduction in working hours, early retirement, and more. Provides charts of workforce professionals in 2019 compared to 2021 by vacancy, working a position unrelated to healthcare license, job dissatisfaction, and more, as well as charts showing rural versus urban comparisons of workforce issues.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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Three Key Trends for Minnesota Community Hospitals in 2020
Discusses trends for Minnesota Community hospitals in 2020 such as hospital usage, public investments, and staffing. Includes a rural versus urban and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) versus non-CAH comparison of median operating margins of hospitals from 2018 to 2020.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Hospital Community Benefit Spending in Minnesota, 2016 to 2019: A Report to the Minnesota Legislature
Reports on hospital-based and community benefits spending from 2016 to 2019 that promotes health in Minnesota. Includes geographic breakdowns of information according to isolated small rural town, small town, large rural city, and urban.
Additional links: Data Tables
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Weight Outcomes of NU-HOME: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Prevent Obesity among Rural Children
Reports on impacts of the NU-HOME collaborative for prevention of childhood obesity in rural children, based on data from 114 parent-child pairs in Minnesota. Explores demographic characteristics, food insecurity, and quality of meals of the participants, among other data points. Discusses the effect of family-level interventions on overweight/obesity status, body mass index (BMI), and percent body fat.
Author(s): Jayne A. Fulkerson, Melissa Horning, Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 19, 29
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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Minnesota Community Hospital Trends, 2017 – 2020: A Data Short Take
Presents information on Minnesota hospital utilization, financials, and staffing and capacity from 2017 to 2020. Includes data broken down by facility bed size, Critical Access Hospital (CAH) or non-CAH, rural versus urban, and health system affiliation, among others.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health
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Evaluating State Flex Program Population Health Activities
Provides an overview of the expectations for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program under Program Area 3: Population Health Improvement and summarizes State Flex Program (SFP) initiatives under this program area. Describes promising population health strategies implemented by SFPs and challenges to measuring the impact of these activities. Explores how Flex Program population health efforts can align with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative (HRHI).
Author(s): John Gale, Celia Jewell, Sara Kahn-Troster, Zachariah Croll
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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