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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by State: Washington

Psychiatrist and Psychologist Experiences with Telehealth and Remote Collaborative Care in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study
Discusses delivery of mental health services to rural patients through telehealth referral and remote collaborative care based on focus group sessions with 10 telepsychiatrists and 4 telepsychologists working in primary care clinics in Washington, Michigan, and Arkansas. Summarizes participant experiences of challenges and successes with telehealth delivery models.
Author(s): Molly Howland, McKenna Tennant, Deborah J. Bowen, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 37(4), 780-787
Date: 10/2020
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Implementation of Flex EMS Supplemental Funding Projects: Year One Activities
Provides an overview of the first-year implementation efforts of the eight Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Supplemental funding grant recipients. Describes each grant project, the impact of COVID-19 and other challenges on project implementation, and factors that facilitated implementation. Includes recommendations for grantees.
Author(s): Karen Pearson, John Gale, Sara Kahn-Troster
Date: 10/2020
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Telepsychiatric Consultation as a Training and Workforce Development Strategy for Rural Primary Care
Study examining the impacts of telepsychiatric consultations on the capacity for clinical and non-clinical staff to recognize and treat psychiatric disorders. Draws from interviews with 17 staff members at 3 rural primary care facilities in Washington. Discusses implications of telepsychiatric consultation for primary care and behavioral health integration models.
Author(s): Morhaf Al Achkar, Ian M. Bennet, Lydia Chwastiak, et al.
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 18(5), 438-445
Date: 09/2020
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Tracking FY2019 Federal Funding to Combat the Opioid Crisis
Report covering the allocation of federal resources for opioid initiatives at the federal, state, and local level. Presents data on federal funding and offers case studies of state and county-level spending data for Ohio, Arizona, Louisiana, Washington, Tennessee, and New Hampshire. Makes policy recommendations and briefly discusses grant initiatives that target rural-specific barriers to treatment.
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Rural–Urban Disparities in Access to Medicaid-Contracted Pharmacies in Washington State, 2017
Uses 2017 data to explore the relationship between rurality and Medicaid-contracted pharmacy access in Washington State. Includes rural/urban comparisons on zip-code characteristics, such as age, Medicaid-insured, and poverty.
Author(s): Janessa Graves, Demetrius Abshire, Megan Undeberg, Laura Forman, Solmaz Amiri
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 08/2020
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Addressing Opioid Use in Rural Communities: Examples from Critical Access Hospitals
Highlights strategies adopted by Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to combat opioid use in their communities. Describes lessons learned from the featured CAHs regarding the development and implementation of projects targeting opioid use. Identifies ways that State Flex Programs and State Offices of Rural Health can support the efforts of CAHs in addressing opioid use in their communities. Provides list of opioid-related resources for CAHs and State Flex Programs.
Author(s): John Gale, Sara Kahn-Troster, Karen Pearson, Nathan First
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Palliative Care Road Map: A Guide for Living with Serious Illness and Conditions for Patients and Those Who Care for Them
Explanation of the standard palliative care process and important considerations for the patient and/or caregivers in the state of Washington. Includes information on what to expect at healthcare appointments, legal considerations, definitions of common terms, related resources available in Washington, and more.
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Office of Rural Health
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Effective Community-Based Initiatives Are Needed to Curb the Opioid Crisis
Describes 6 community-research collaboratives to address the opioid crisis at the local level, including programs in St. Louis, MO, Olympia, WA, Ithaca, NY, and rural programs in Rio Arriba County, NM, western North Carolina, and tribal communities in the Midwest and the Northern Plains.
Author(s): Beth Connolly, Leslie Paulson
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Hospitals Face Financial Challenges Due to COVID-19
Describes the financial impact of COVID-19 on Kittitas Valley Healthcare in Ellensburg, Washington. Discusses the decline in emergency department and non-emergency surgery volume and changes to labor costs as a percentage of net revenue.
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Strategies for Rural Communities for Addressing Substance Misuse among Families Involved with the Child Welfare System
Describes nine programs across seven states that have addressed challenges to serving child welfare-involved parents with substance use issues through mentoring, case management, providing access to treatment and affordable housing, and other support services. Discusses considerations for expanding and replicating these programs in rural communities.
Additional links: Research Summary
Author(s): Jung Kim, Elizabeth Clary, Christina Ribar, Sarah Palmer, Elizabeth Weigensberg
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Mathematica
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