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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

At the Front Lines in Tennessee: Rural Clinic Offers Trauma-Informed Treatment for Substance Use Disorder
Describes the work of a rural Tennessee physician who uses medication-assisted treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, and group therapy sessions to treat patients struggling with substance use disorder. Explores the connection between adverse childhood experiences and substance abuse, and stigma associated with seeking treatment.
Author(s): Mariel Gingrich
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Geographic Expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers 2007-2014
Details a study on the geographic distribution of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) from 2007-2014. Looks at the percentage of FQHCs in rural and high poverty areas.
Author(s): Chiang-Hua Chang, Julie PW Bynum, Jon D. Lurie
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 35(3), 385-394
Date: 06/2019
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A Conversation on Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities: Charting a Path to Improved Access, Quality and Outcomes
Provides a recording of a day-long forum on maternal health access in rural communities. Addresses statistics on maternal health access, disparities in access and mortality rates, healthcare quality, models of care, state and federal policies related to maternal health, and more.
Additional links: Agenda, External Summary
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Broadband Mapping: Small Carrier Perspectives on a Path Forward
Congressional hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure regarding challenges to developing accurate broadband access maps to help direct funding to rural areas without broadband services. Includes testimony from the Competitive Carriers Association, The Rural Broadband Association, WTA-Advocates for Rural Broadband, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
Additional links: Beth Osler Testimony, Dan Stelpflug Testimony, Jason Hendricks Testimony, Tim Donovan Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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Serving Rural America: How Health Insurance Providers Break Down Barriers to Ensure Access to Care
Highlights healthcare challenges in the rural U.S. and provides examples of how health insurance providers have helped address those challenges through telehealth, remote patient monitoring, incentives for rural providers, payment models, and targeting the opioid epidemic. Offers recommendations for state and federal policymakers related to rural recruitment, telehealth, insurance affordability, and population health.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: AHIP
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Lower Health Care Costs Act
Recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which covers access to healthcare, surprise medical bills, market competition, drug prices, and other issues. Includes testimony from an organization that works primarily with small and rural practices, the American Hospital Association, American Enterprise Institute, and others.
Additional links: Benedic N. Ippolito Testimony, Sean Cavanaugh Testimony, Tom Nickels Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2019
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and offers recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Includes a chapter on access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries that addresses rural access to care and programs supporting it, such as the National Health Service Corps. Other sections of the report addressing rural concerns focus on Medicare enrollment, changes in hospice and post-acute care after implementing the long-term care hospital dual payment-rate structure, and Medicare fee-for-service spending for emergency department services.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Access to Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities: A Patient's Personal Story
Offers a short video featuring a patient's story about accessing maternal healthcare in rural Iowa. Includes the perspective of the obstetrician/gynecologist who provided her care using a combination of telehealth and in-person visits from South Dakota, the closest facility offering the services she needed. Transcript available below description.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Mapping the Food Landscape in New Hampshire
Examines access to food and food support in New Hampshire at a census tract level. Covers farm and non-farm retail food sources, retail sites that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), food support sites such as the National School Lunch Program, and food pantries. Identifies less densely populated areas and areas with more people in poverty and discusses some issues specific to rural areas of the state.
Author(s): Jessica A. Carson
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Analysis of Oral Dietary Supplement Use in Rural Older Adults
Interviewed 138 rural older Nebraskan adults using at least 3 prescribed medications to determine associations with oral dietary supplement (ODS) use. Discusses implications of ODS use alongside prescription medication as well as rural-specific reasons for ODS use.
Author(s): Marcia Y. Shade, Matthew Witry, Katie Robinson, Kevin Kupzyk
Citation: Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(9-10), 1600-1606
Date: 05/2019
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