Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Emergency department and urgent care services
Supporting Rural Health Facilities
Discusses strategies pursued by states to strengthen the financial stability of rural hospitals and expand access to primary care, behavioral healthcare, and emergency care. Describes state policies related to technical assistance, financial stabilization grants, payment models, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), health centers, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), and free-standing emergency departments.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Discusses strategies pursued by states to strengthen the financial stability of rural hospitals and expand access to primary care, behavioral healthcare, and emergency care. Describes state policies related to technical assistance, financial stabilization grants, payment models, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), health centers, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), and free-standing emergency departments.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
view details
Best Practices for Implementing the Continuum of Crisis Services Under Medicaid and CHIP
Provides guidance for states to maintain a continuum of behavioral health crisis care for patients covered by Medicaid and CHIP. Details core elements of the continuum of crisis care and how Medicaid and CHIP function within that framework. Highlights considerations for rural communities.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Provides guidance for states to maintain a continuum of behavioral health crisis care for patients covered by Medicaid and CHIP. Details core elements of the continuum of crisis care and how Medicaid and CHIP function within that framework. Highlights considerations for rural communities.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Workforce Impact of Emergency Department Boarding
Surveys 195 emergency department (ED) physicians about the impact of ED boarding on clinician wellness, burnout, moral injury, and workplace violence. Discusses policy ideas to alleviate challenges. Includes an urban, suburban, and rural breakdown of survey respondents.
Author(s): Vicki Norton, Kraftin E. Schreyer, Diane Kuhn
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
view details
Surveys 195 emergency department (ED) physicians about the impact of ED boarding on clinician wellness, burnout, moral injury, and workplace violence. Discusses policy ideas to alleviate challenges. Includes an urban, suburban, and rural breakdown of survey respondents.
Author(s): Vicki Norton, Kraftin E. Schreyer, Diane Kuhn
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
view details
Time is Tissue: How CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital is Revolutionizing Rural Cardiac Care
Podcast episode discussing how CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colorado, uses a communications platform that connects emergency medical services and pre-hospital providers with patients who are having chest pain and cardiac-related issues with on-call cardiologists.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Podcast episode discussing how CommonSpirit Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colorado, uses a communications platform that connects emergency medical services and pre-hospital providers with patients who are having chest pain and cardiac-related issues with on-call cardiologists.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Mapping Healthcare Deserts: Over 80% of the Country Still Lacks Adequate Access to Healthcare
Provides information on healthcare and pharmacy deserts in the United States. Includes an interactive county-level U.S. map that shows healthcare deserts in the following categories: pharmacy, primary care, hospital, hospital beds, trauma center, and health center.
Author(s): Amanda Nguyen
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: GoodRx
view details
Provides information on healthcare and pharmacy deserts in the United States. Includes an interactive county-level U.S. map that shows healthcare deserts in the following categories: pharmacy, primary care, hospital, hospital beds, trauma center, and health center.
Author(s): Amanda Nguyen
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: GoodRx
view details
Emergency Department Visits among Rural and Urban Older Adults: Disparities in Ambulatory and Emergency Care Sensitive Conditions
Compares emergency department (ED) utilization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) and emergency care sensitive conditions (ECSCs) among rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries. Presents findings from a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2016–2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data.
Author(s): Cameron J. Gettel, Courtney Kitchen, Craig Rothenberg, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 275
Date: 07/2025
view details
Compares emergency department (ED) utilization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) and emergency care sensitive conditions (ECSCs) among rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries. Presents findings from a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2016–2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data.
Author(s): Cameron J. Gettel, Courtney Kitchen, Craig Rothenberg, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 275
Date: 07/2025
view details
Illegally Made Fentanyl Use in the United States: 2022 and 2023
Report highlights findings from the 2022 and 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on the use of illegally made fentanyl across the U.S. Explores co-usage with other drugs, emergency room visits/hospitalizations, and breaks down user characteristics by age, poverty level, and rurality, among other measures.
Citation: NSDUH Data Brief, 2(2)
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Report highlights findings from the 2022 and 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on the use of illegally made fentanyl across the U.S. Explores co-usage with other drugs, emergency room visits/hospitalizations, and breaks down user characteristics by age, poverty level, and rurality, among other measures.
Citation: NSDUH Data Brief, 2(2)
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Preventing Medical Debt among Rural Residents: Example Programs from Hospitals in Minnesota and Montana
Highlights the ways some rural hospitals are working to reduce medical debt for their patients. Presents a number of strategies from hospitals in Minnesota and Montana that aim to reduce patient medical debts through financial assistance programs and cost-cutting measures. Features case-studies reviewing the structure of each hospital's debt reduction efforts.
Author(s): Katie Rydberg, Sushma Shankar, Mariana Tuttle, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 06/2025
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Highlights the ways some rural hospitals are working to reduce medical debt for their patients. Presents a number of strategies from hospitals in Minnesota and Montana that aim to reduce patient medical debts through financial assistance programs and cost-cutting measures. Features case-studies reviewing the structure of each hospital's debt reduction efforts.
Author(s): Katie Rydberg, Sushma Shankar, Mariana Tuttle, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 06/2025
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Obstetric Care in Rural Critical Access Hospitals: A Domestic Application of the World Health Organization Emergency Obstetric Care Framework in Rural Communities
Examines emergency obstetric readiness in rural Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that do not have obstetric units. Reports on facility assessments in Montana utilizing the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) framework to assess CAHs for emergency obstetric care readiness.
Author(s): Annie L. Glover, Diane Brown, Carly Holman, Megan Nelson
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(2)
Date: 05/2025
view details
Examines emergency obstetric readiness in rural Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that do not have obstetric units. Reports on facility assessments in Montana utilizing the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) framework to assess CAHs for emergency obstetric care readiness.
Author(s): Annie L. Glover, Diane Brown, Carly Holman, Megan Nelson
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(2)
Date: 05/2025
view details
Nonfatal Injury Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Hospitalizations Among Persons Under Age 65 With an Intellectual and Developmental Disability or Deaf or Hard of Hearing Disability
Analyzes disparities in emergency department and inpatient hospitalization among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), people who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), and those without IDD or DHH. Utilizes Kentucky ED and inpatient discharge data from 2019 to 2023. Breaks down data by demographic category, including metropolitan or nonmetropolitan dwelling.
Author(s): Terry L. Bunn, Jacqueline Seals, Dana Quesinberry, Alaina Murphy, Julia F. Costich
Citation: Injury Epidemiology, 12, 27
Date: 05/2025
view details
Analyzes disparities in emergency department and inpatient hospitalization among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), people who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH), and those without IDD or DHH. Utilizes Kentucky ED and inpatient discharge data from 2019 to 2023. Breaks down data by demographic category, including metropolitan or nonmetropolitan dwelling.
Author(s): Terry L. Bunn, Jacqueline Seals, Dana Quesinberry, Alaina Murphy, Julia F. Costich
Citation: Injury Epidemiology, 12, 27
Date: 05/2025
view details