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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care
Examines the current state of primary care in the United States, and describes an implementation plan to strengthen high-quality primary care. Discusses value-based care and reimbursement, access to care, primary care workforce recruitment and training, and the role of health information technology. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Population Health in Rural America in 2020: Proceedings of a Workshop
Presents the proceedings of the Population Health in Rural America 2020 workshop. Chapters examine rural demographics and social determinants of health, rural health and data challenges, rural and tribal healthcare, community health needs assessment, and rural health policy.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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2020 340B Health Annual Survey: 340B Hospitals Use Benefits to Provide Services and Improve Outcomes for Low-Income and Rural Patients
Summarizes the results of a November 2020 - January 2021 survey of nearly 500 hospitals, including small and rural hospitals, that participate in the 340B drug pricing program. Describes how these hospitals utilize their savings from the 340B program to benefit patients. Discusses the importance of the program to Critical Access Hospitals, Disproportionate Share Hospitals, and other safety-net facilities.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: 340B Health
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Health, United States, 2019
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access, and expenditures. Includes rural data - see the Trend Tables Data Finder and select "Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan" under Population Subgroups.
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Advancing Progress in the Development and Implementation of Effective, High-Quality Cancer Screening: Proceedings of a Workshop
Details a workshop during which presenters and participants described challenges to current cancer screening methods and discussed opportunities for improvement to ultimately reduce cancer morbidity and mortality. Provides information on populations in the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Using State Licensure Data to Assess North Carolina's Health Workforce COVID-19 Response Capacity
Assesses the supply of healthcare providers in North Carolina who are able to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, using licensure data merged with population data and numbers of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. Mentions rural throughout. Features county-level maps showing ratios of respiratory therapists, critical care nurses and physicians per 10,000 county population, and ratios of critical care nurses and respiratory therapists to numbers of ICU beds.
Author(s): Heather Wilson, Evan M. Galloway, Julie C. Spero, et al.
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 82(1), 29-35
Date: 2021
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Guidebook and Research Plan to Help Communities Improve Transportation to Health Care Services
Provides guidance to help healthcare and transportation agencies work together to increase transportation services and improve health outcomes. Discusses the effect of limited transportation services on healthcare access and cost in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Includes case studies and examples of collaborative efforts between transportation and healthcare organizations.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Transportation Research Board
Date: 2021
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Delaware State Health Improvement Plan: 2020 Annual Report
Assesses policy improvements and the alignment of activities among 9 key Delaware stakeholder groups with the 2018-2023 Delaware State Health Needs Assessment and State Health Improvement Plan. Includes sections on chronic disease, maternal and child health, substance use disorders, and mental health, and offers system-wide recommendations.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Delaware Health and Social Services, University of Delaware Partnership for Healthy Communities
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Maternal Mortalities and Severe Maternal Morbidity in Arizona
Provides an overview of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in Arizona as related to issues such as access to healthcare, social determinants of health, and quality of care. Utilizes 2016-2017 data to examine adverse maternal outcomes by county and demographic, including rural versus urban location.
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Department of Health Services
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Enhancing Rural Emergency Communications Capabilities
Highlights the accomplishments of University of Mississippi Medical Center's First Hands Program to establish communication systems and agency interoperability between non-medical first responders and medical teams, improve disaster response coordination, and identify solutions to improve the delivery of rural emergency medical care. This program was funded by the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project (REMCDP) established by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and addresses the goals and objectives of the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP).
Date: 12/2020
Sponsoring organization: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
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