Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Behavioral health workforce
Policy Solutions Addressing Psychiatric Boarding of Rural Youth
Policy position paper regarding psychiatric boarding - holding patients in an emergency department after the decision to admit or transfer has been made, but no beds are available - of rural children and adolescents. Describes recent trends in pediatric psychiatric boarding in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to reduce boarding times and improve mental health outcomes in rural communities.
Author(s): Amah Riley, Jonathan Updike, Lauren Wood
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Policy position paper regarding psychiatric boarding - holding patients in an emergency department after the decision to admit or transfer has been made, but no beds are available - of rural children and adolescents. Describes recent trends in pediatric psychiatric boarding in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to reduce boarding times and improve mental health outcomes in rural communities.
Author(s): Amah Riley, Jonathan Updike, Lauren Wood
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Supporting Health Care Teams for Today and Pathways for Tomorrow: Twenty-Second Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress
Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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CMS Final Rules Overview - Impact for RHCs Beginning January 1, 2024
Recording of a December 11, 2023, webinar providing an overview of telehealth payment rates for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and other regulatory updates and potential changes for 2024. Covers new billable providers for RHCs, changes to care management services and billing, telehealth regulations, intensive outpatient program (IOP) services, and more. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 12/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
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Recording of a December 11, 2023, webinar providing an overview of telehealth payment rates for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and other regulatory updates and potential changes for 2024. Covers new billable providers for RHCs, changes to care management services and billing, telehealth regulations, intensive outpatient program (IOP) services, and more. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 12/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
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Texas Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan: Progress Report
Report summarizing progress of the Texas Fiscal Years 2022-2026 Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan. Discusses mental health workforce shortages, recruitment and retention of workforce, telehealth, loan repayment, community health workers, and incentivizing rural practice. Discusses rural throughout. Includes priority next steps and outlines strategies by various Texas state agencies.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Texas Statewide Health Coordinating Council
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Report summarizing progress of the Texas Fiscal Years 2022-2026 Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan. Discusses mental health workforce shortages, recruitment and retention of workforce, telehealth, loan repayment, community health workers, and incentivizing rural practice. Discusses rural throughout. Includes priority next steps and outlines strategies by various Texas state agencies.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Texas Statewide Health Coordinating Council
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Lessons in Rural Leadership
Provides guidance on cultivating leadership among a rural behavioral health workforce. Highlights some challenges for building mental health workforce leadership curriculum and discusses local barriers faced by a rural behavioral health workforce, such as insurance coverage, transportation, and housing, among others.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
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Provides guidance on cultivating leadership among a rural behavioral health workforce. Highlights some challenges for building mental health workforce leadership curriculum and discusses local barriers faced by a rural behavioral health workforce, such as insurance coverage, transportation, and housing, among others.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
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Why Rural Matters 2023: Centering Equity and Opportunity
Report describing schools in rural communities. Discusses the impact of COVID-19, access to psychologists and mental health supports, impact on poverty, broadband access, and more. Includes state-level comparisons.
Author(s): Daniel Showalter, Sara L. Hartman, Karen Eppley, Jerry Johnson, Bob Klein
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Education Association
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Report describing schools in rural communities. Discusses the impact of COVID-19, access to psychologists and mental health supports, impact on poverty, broadband access, and more. Includes state-level comparisons.
Author(s): Daniel Showalter, Sara L. Hartman, Karen Eppley, Jerry Johnson, Bob Klein
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Education Association
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Final Rule for CY 2024 Physician Fee Schedule: Fact Sheet
Fact sheet covering Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) telehealth policy changes for 2024 as outlined in the final calendar year (CY) 2024 Physician Fee Schedule. Covers eligible services that can be delivered by telehealth, remote monitoring services, physician supervision, diabetes self-management training (DSMT), and more.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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Fact sheet covering Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) telehealth policy changes for 2024 as outlined in the final calendar year (CY) 2024 Physician Fee Schedule. Covers eligible services that can be delivered by telehealth, remote monitoring services, physician supervision, diabetes self-management training (DSMT), and more.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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RCORP: Helping Meet Rural Needs
Video series featuring the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a multi-year initiative that funds a range of grant programs to help rural communities treat and prevent opioid use disorder. RCORP grantees share how they have used this funding to address the needs of their communities.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Video series featuring the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a multi-year initiative that funds a range of grant programs to help rural communities treat and prevent opioid use disorder. RCORP grantees share how they have used this funding to address the needs of their communities.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Identifying Strategies for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Provides an overview of recent trends in the shortage of the nursing, primary care, and behavioral healthcare workforce in Virginia. Summarizes findings from an environmental scan and qualitative and quantitative data analysis regarding recruitment and retention strategies. Identifies interventions that could help the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) successfully address workforce shortages and which interventions should be prioritized based on desired policy outcomes. Presents a system dynamic model simulating the medium- to long-term supply and employment trends within Virginia's healthcare workforce under status quo conditions and under various policy interventions. Includes information on recruitment and retention in rural areas throughout.
Additional links: Annex, Research Brief: Recommendations for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Author(s): Megan Andrew, Brian Briscombe, Raffaele Vardavas, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Provides an overview of recent trends in the shortage of the nursing, primary care, and behavioral healthcare workforce in Virginia. Summarizes findings from an environmental scan and qualitative and quantitative data analysis regarding recruitment and retention strategies. Identifies interventions that could help the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority (VHWDA) successfully address workforce shortages and which interventions should be prioritized based on desired policy outcomes. Presents a system dynamic model simulating the medium- to long-term supply and employment trends within Virginia's healthcare workforce under status quo conditions and under various policy interventions. Includes information on recruitment and retention in rural areas throughout.
Additional links: Annex, Research Brief: Recommendations for Strengthening the Health Care Workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Author(s): Megan Andrew, Brian Briscombe, Raffaele Vardavas, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Filling the Gaps: Program Builds Referral and Recovery Services in Western Massachusetts
Features a rural Massachusetts coalition's work to address substance misuse and build sustainable recovery services, with support from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). Discusses youth outreach and engagement, stigma reduction activities, facilitating access to services, and more.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Features a rural Massachusetts coalition's work to address substance misuse and build sustainable recovery services, with support from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP). Discusses youth outreach and engagement, stigma reduction activities, facilitating access to services, and more.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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