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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Strategic Choice in Developing Telemedicine - Observations from Three Organizations
Discusses organizational considerations such as local and regional market conditions and economics for hospital systems incorporating telemedicine into their healthcare services. Features a literature review and results of interviews with Kaiser Permanente Southern California, the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Explores challenges and plans for expansion of services to underserved areas.
Author(s): Thomas Vaughn, Fred Ullrich, Muska Nataliansyah, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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340B Drug Discount Program: Increased Oversight Needed to Ensure Nongovernmental Hospitals Meet Eligibility Requirements
Provides an overview of the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) review of 258 nongovernmental hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and their contracts with state and local governments. Evaluates the contracts to determine if they meet the eligibility requirement to serve low-income individuals. Outlines weaknesses in the Health Resources and Services Administration's review of the hospital contracts and offers six recommendations to improve the contract review process.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Availability of Grocery Delivery to Food Deserts in States Participating in the Online Purchase Pilot
Research letter describing a study of the Online Purchase Pilot (OPP), which allows beneficiaries in 8 states to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy groceries online. Includes statistics on the availability of grocery delivery among rural food desert census tracts and SNAP households in the 8 OPP states.
Author(s): Eric J. Brandt, David M. Silvestri, Jerold R. Mandi, Margaret L. Holland, Joseph S. Ross
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(12)
Date: 12/2019
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Comparison of Rural vs Urban Direct-to-Physician Commercial Promotion of Medications for Treating Opioid Use Disorder
Results of a cross-sectional county-level study using all reported direct-to-physician pharmaceutical payments from manufacturers of opioid use disorder medications from 2014-2017, as well as demographic and economic data from 3,140 counties. Features statistics with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas.
Author(s): Thuy Nguyen, Barbara Andraka-Christou, Kosali Simon, W. David Bradford
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(12)
Date: 12/2019
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Diabetes Prevention Program Sites Compared With Diabetes Prevalence and Ratio of Primary Care Physicians in Texas
Discusses partnerships between the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and state organizations to provide type 2 diabetes prevention education by increasing access to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognized Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs). Offers state maps that identify the county locations of DPPs in comparison to diagnosed diabetes prevalence and the ratio of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents.
Author(s): Emily Peterson Johnson, Melissa Dunn, Maria Cooper, Nimisha Bhakta
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 12/2019
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Access to Specialty Care for Medicare Beneficiaries in Rural Communities
Findings from a voluntary online survey conducted in 2019 of 111 Rural Health Clinic (RHC) staff, from 27 states, to identify the most difficult specialty healthcare service to access, and why it is the most difficult to access. Conducts an analysis of RHC distance to the nearest hospital or clinic to determine variation in difficulty accessing specialty services.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Hannah Neprash, Carrie Henning-Smith, Mariana S. Tuttle, Ashley M. Hernandez
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Making Community Health Workers (CHWs) Fundamental: New Research Strengthens the Case for State Policymakers to Include CHWs in Care Delivery Teams
Summarizes key findings from previous Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funded studies in 9 states on Community Health Workers (CHWs) interventions and their effect on diverse ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, including rural. Offers evidence-based recommendations to help state policymakers integrate CHWs into healthcare delivery teams to improve health outcomes and reduce the cost of healthcare for individuals and populations.
Author(s): Denisse Sanchez, Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, Eliot Fishman
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
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The Value Initiative Members in Action: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon, N.H
Describes how the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center partners with rural and community hospitals to provide telehealth specialty care services across northern New England through the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care program. Discusses clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction with the telehealth programs. Examines how telehealth services impact staffing and services offered in small and rural hospitals.
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Rural-Urban Differences in Access to and Attitudes Toward Care for Medicare Beneficiaries
Results of a study using data from the 2016 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to analyze differences between rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries in terms of travel time to usual provider, access barriers, and attitudes toward seeking care.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Ashley M. Hernandez, Megan Lahr
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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CDFIs 'Make Dreams Come True' by Creating Opportunity in Rural Spaces
Describes the role that Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can play in helping rural areas gain access to flexible financing options to support rural health projects. Highlights how the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and Healthcare Georgia Foundation work with CDFIs to help address rural health concerns. Also features a CDFI recipient of Uplift America, the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, that has helped support a health professions high school.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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