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

Use of Primary Care and Emergency Departments for Substance Use Treatment: The Rural and Urban Divide
Explores the use of primary care and emergency departments for substance use treatment in rural and urban areas. Draws from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2015-2019 and breaks down data by age, race, and rurality, among other measures.
Author(s): Nathaniel Albright, Christina Dyar, Ethan Morgan
Citation: Substance Use & Misuse, 59(2), 300-305
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
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Emergency Department Care for Children During the 2022 Viral Respiratory Illness Surge
Analyzed over 2.7 million pediatric viral and respiratory emergency department visits in Michigan in 2021 and 2022 to describe wait times, length of stay, and revisits in both surge and non-surge periods. Includes rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): Alexander T. Janke, Courtney W. Mangus, Christopher M. Fung, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(12)
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
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Emergency Department Visits Related to Mental Health Disorders Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 2018–2021
Reports on emergency department (ED) visits related to mental health disorders among children and adolescents, with a comparison to ED visits by children and adolescents without mental health disorders. Table 4 includes data by hospital characteristics, including location in a metropolitan or nonmetro area.
Author(s): Loredana Santo, Zachary J. Peters, Danielle Davis, Carol J. DeFrances
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Emergency Department Visit Rates for Assault: United States, 2019–2021
Examines emergency department visit rates due to assault, with data broken down by age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance type, region, and metro versus nonmetro location.
Author(s): Danielle Davis, Loredana Santo
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2021 Emergency Department Summary Tables
Provides data on ambulatory care emergency department (ED) hospital visits. Table 1 provides metropolitan/nonmetropolitan ED visit data based on hospital location.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Oregon Areas of Unmet Health Care Need Report, 2023
Covers nine variables that describe areas of unmet healthcare need in Oregon and measure access to primary care, mental, and oral healthcare services. Areas of unmet need are scored based on variables within the following categories: availability of providers, ability to afford care, and utilization. Includes statistics and county-level information by service areas.
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Oregon Office of Rural Health
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Improving Hospital Transfers: A Step Toward Equitable, Patient-Centered Acute Care
Discuss emergency department (ED) transfers, including the importance of timely transfers, where patients transferred from the ED are more likely to initially present, and how transferred patients are considered in hospital quality metrics. Identifies three ways to incentivize hospital coordination to improve patient-centered care for transfer patients.
Author(s): Charleen Hsuan
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Outpatient Prospective Payment System for FY 2024
Comment on the July 31, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) payments for calendar year 2024. Includes discussions on extending the use of the hospital market basket to update ASC payment rates, a proposed quality measure for emergency department visits in Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), and more.
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Differential Treatment and Outcomes for Patients With Heart Attacks in Advantaged and Disadvantaged Communities
Analyzes geographic disparities in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) access, treatment, and outcomes among patients with acute myocardial infarction in California using 2006-2020 patient data. Compares mortality, readmissions, same-day PCI, distance to PCI, and more by neighborhood disadvantage status. Highlights factors associated with neighborhood disadvantage including race, ethnicity, and rurality.
Author(s): Yu-Chu Shen, Nandita Sarkar, Renee Y. Hsia
Citation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 12(17), e030506
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Caring for Rural Communities in the Geriatric ED
Webinar recording discussing care for older patients in rural emergency departments. Includes information on rural specific challenges and innovative rural programs. Transcript available within the video playback.
Additional links: Chat Notes, Slide Deck
Date: 08/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: The Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative
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