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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Emergency department and urgent care services

Telehealth Decreases Rural Emergency Department Wait Times for Behavioral Health Patients in a Group of Critical Access Hospitals
Explores impacts of telehealth on behavioral health patients in rural emergency departments (EDs) at 4 Midwestern Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares wait time and length of stay (LOS) for 153 patients from 2005-2013 before telehealth implementation and 287 patents from 2015-2017 after telehealth implementation. Provides data on patient demographics, wait time, LOS, behavioral health diagnosis, and total costs of ED visit.
Author(s): Roseanne Moody Fairchild, Shiaw-Fen Ferng-Kuo, Stephanie Laws, Hicham Rahmouni, Daniel Hardesty
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 25(12), 1154-1164
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Health Impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on St Thomas and St John, US Virgin Islands, 2017–2018
Assesses the impacts of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria on the healthcare infrastructure and record keeping systems of St. Thomas and St. John, Virgin Islands. Discusses interviews and data drawn from emergency department records before, between, and after the hurricanes, including statistics on patient demographics and healthcare service usage by health condition. Describes the significant damage to the Schneider Regional Medical Center (SRMC) hospital, the only emergency hospital on the island, during and after the hurricanes, and the impact of that damage on healthcare services.
Author(s): Muhammad Abdul Baker Chowdhury, Andrew Fiore, Scott Cohen, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 109(12), 1725-1732
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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An Analysis of Utah's Emergency Department Non-traumatic Dental Visits 2007-2017
Report explores the non-traumatic oral healthcare visits handled by emergency departments in Utah from 2007 to 2017. Looks at data by rural and urban hospital location, diagnosis, and payers, among other measures.
Author(s): Michelle Martin, Michelle Silver, Brittney Okada, et al.
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Utah Department of Health and Human Services
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Improving the Geographical Precision of Rural Chronic Disease Surveillance by Using Emergency Claims Data: A Cross-Sectional Comparison of Survey Versus Claims Data in Sullivan County, New York
Compares mailed survey data with emergency department (ED) claims data in Sullivan County, New York to assess validity of using ED data for improved health surveillance of rural disease prevalence. Includes maps of sub-county level estimates of diabetes, asthma, and hypertension.
Author(s): David C Lee, Justin M Feldman, Marcela Osorio, et al.
Citation: BMJ Open, 9(11)
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
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Inpatient Hospital Stays and Emergency Department Visits Involving Influenza, 2006–2016
Examines inpatient stays and treat-and-release emergency department visits with an influenza diagnosis from the 2006–2007 flu season through the 2015–2016 flu season. Covers in-hospital mortality rates, average stay length, and cost. Includes data by patient location for metropolitan areas, rural adjacent to metro, and rural remote areas.
Author(s): Kathryn R. Fingar, Lan Liang, Carol Stocks
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Traumatic Injury and Access to Care in Rural Areas: Leveraging Linked Data and Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Advocacy
Analyzes county-level data representing traumatic injury rates in rural Colorado. Discusses challenges to trauma care in rural areas, including distance to trauma centers, rates of injury, prevention resources, EMS response times, and limited EMS capacity. Includes county-level maps showing transportation time to trauma centers, mortality rates, and hospitalization rates for traumatic injury.
Author(s): Paula Yuma, Rebecca Orsi, Julie Dunn, et al.
Citation: Rural Remote Health, 19(3), 5089
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
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Violence Against Hospital Workers: Growing Awareness, Rural Interventions, and Why It Still Goes Unreported
Provides an overview of workplace violence in healthcare settings. Features rural hospitals in Oregon and Idaho that are undertaking a range of prevention activities addressing workplace violence. Also features research findings from a Michigan healthcare system study on the topic, and identifies resources and tools that rural hospital leaders can use to help protect hospital staff.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Hospital Closures Reduce Access to Emergency Care
Recognizes the importance of hospital and emergency care services in providing healthcare in rural communities, and discusses the current hospital closure rate. Uses federal data to compare the financial viability of rural and urban hospitals, and the availability of emergency care in rural communities. Suggests policy recommendations for improving access to healthcare and emergency care for rural populations.
Author(s): Tarun Ramesh, Emily Gee
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
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Transformation Support Provided Remotely to a National Cohort of Optometry Practices
Describes the results of a practice transformation and quality improvement project for optometry practices. Compares cost-savings and emergency department avoidance data between rural and urban practices.
Author(s): Ronald N. Adler, Warren J. Ferguson, Hussein Antar, et al.
Citation: Annals of Family Medicine, 17(5), S33-S39
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
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Advancing Health Equity and Access Using Telemedicine: A Geospatial Assessment
Highlights a study on the effectiveness of a virtual urgent care (VUC) program in expanding healthcare access and addressing health equity in rural populations in North Carolina. Compares rural versus urban areas and breaks down data by rates of poverty, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, and broadband access, among other measures.
Author(s): Saif Khairat, Timothy Haithcoat, Songzi Liu, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(8-9), 796–805
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
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