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

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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Developing Risk-Adjusted Avoidable Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits Quality Measures: Final Report
Defines avoidable hospitalization (AH) and avoidable emergency department (ED) visits (AVs) and summarizes the development of a model for calculating expected AH and AV rates using Medicare claims data. Seeks to inform Medicare quality payment models and target areas for quality improvement. Table 3-10 includes AH and AV risk-standardized rates for a number of rural market areas.
Author(s): Zhanlian Feng, Benjamin Silver, Micah Segelman, et al.
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, RTI International
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Mobile Telehealth Units and Care Coordinators Improve Emergency Care Services for Rural Arizona Patients
Features an Arizona program focused on lowering ER readmissions through care coordination and EMS telehealth services. Explains how the telehealth services are provided via mobile telehealth units. Describes how care coordination helps meet the behavioral health needs of patients with chronic diseases.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Urban/Rural Residence Effect on Emergency Department Visits Arising From Food-induced Anaphylaxis
Examines urban/rural differences by age and race/ethnicity in emergency department (ED) pediatric visit rates for food-induced anaphylaxis using 2009-2014 data from New York and Florida.
Author(s): Rie Sakai-Bizmark, Scott M.I. Friedlander, Karin Oshima, Eliza J. Webber, Laurie A. Mena, et al
Citation: Allergology International, 68(3), 316–320
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
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Critical Crossroads: Pediatric Mental Health Care in the Emergency Department: A Care Pathway Resource Toolkit
Toolkit designed to support hospitals that provide high-quality, effective emergency care to pediatric patients in psychiatric distress. Includes case stories from rural emergency departments in various states.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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Factors Determining Patients' Choice Between Mobile Health and Telemedicine: Predictive Analytics Assessment
Results of a study to examine factors influencing the choice of communication medium for receiving healthcare, through analysis of mobile health versus telemedicine visits with a virtual urgent clinic. Features statistics including demographics of virtual urgent clinic users, with breakdowns by urban and rural settings.
Author(s): Saif Khairat, Songzi Liu, Tanzila Zaman, Barbara Edson, Robert Gianforcaro
Citation: JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 7(6)
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
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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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Population-Based Trauma Outcomes
Final report of a committee funded by the Department of Health and Human Services to identify and measure concepts, and prioritize measure gaps for evaluating population-based trauma care outcomes. Includes the framework for evaluating trauma care at a regional or population level comprising access to trauma services, cost and resource use, trauma clinical care, and prevention of trauma. Discusses issues related to rural access to trauma care and potential measures and measure adaptations for rural areas, as well as listing measures developed by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum
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Family Physicians' Contributions to Rural Emergency Care and Urban Urgent Care
Presents a study on the role of family physicians play in rural versus urban emergency departments. Compares rates in urban, large rural, small rural, and frontier facilities.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, James C. Puffer, Urooj Nasim, Stephen Petterson, Warren P. Newton
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 32(3), 295-296
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
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Rural‐Urban Trends in Opioid Overdose Discharges in Missouri Emergency Departments, 2012‐2016
Study of opioid overdose cases treated by Missouri emergency departments from 2012-2016 that compares rural and urban rates. Analyzes billing data from the state's Patient Abstract System (PAS), including population information and type of opiate involved in the overdose over the data period. Discusses the role of non-heroin opioids in overdose rates and implications of observed trends for emergency departments.
Author(s): Whitney Coffey, Andrew Hunter, Evan Mobley, Alana Vivolo-Kantor
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 36(2), 177-186
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
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