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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Emergency medical services

Air Ambulance: Available Data Show Privately-Insured Patients Are at Financial Risk
Examines air ambulance transports for patients with a focus on balance billing. Describes changes in geographic distribution of air ambulance services, including the location of bases and new bases and additions in rural areas; the extent of out-of-network air ambulance transports and balance billing practices; and how states are limiting balance billing. Relies on data from a variety of sources, including interviews with officials in 6 states: Florida, North Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Maryland, and Texas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Do Hospital Closures Affect Patient Time in an Ambulance?
Examines the impact of hospital closures on patient travel time to an emergency department (ED) by ambulance. Uses national data on hospital closures and hospital-based ambulance services and compares rural/urban differences.
Author(s): SuZanne Troske, Alison Davis
Date: 02/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
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Improving Rural Systems of Care for Time Critical Diagnoses: A Review of State Flex Program Activities
Examines state Flex program initiatives to improve time critical diagnoses (TCD) care systems and integrate rural emergency medical services (EMS) into area care systems, particularly Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Briefly describes what each of the 17 participating states did to collaborate with EMS stakeholders, enhance TCD capacity, support EMS training, provide technical assistance to local EMS agencies, and collect EMS and TCD data.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Karen Pearson
Date: 01/2019
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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2019 National Tribal and Rural Training Needs Assessment
Reports findings from a survey of rural and tribal first response organizations to understanding their training needs. Includes information on demographics, core capabilities, training needs, and training information and delivery preferences.
Author(s): Kay Lang, Christopher Murtagh, Richards P. Davis
Date: 2019
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Best Practices in Law Enforcement, Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium
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Trauma Training Initiative Teaches Rural Laypeople How to "Stop the Bleed"
Features the Stop the Bleed initiative, which trains community members to help control blood loss while waiting for medical help. Highlights training provided in rural North Dakota and Nebraska.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Report to Congress: Demonstration Project on Community Health Integration Models in Certain Rural Counties, Interim Report 2018
Provides an overview of and first year findings from the Frontier Community Health Integration Project Demonstration (FCHIP), which includes 10 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in three states: North Dakota, Montana, and Nevada. The demonstration intends to increase the quality and coordination of care, with focuses on access to and payments for telehealth, ambulance services, and skilled nursing facility/nursing facility beds, as well as related regulatory challenges.
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Frontier and Remote Paramedicine Practitioner Models
Reviews paramedic service delivery models in the U.S. and other English speaking countries, focusing on models with the potential to support and improve health and well-being of frontier populations.
Author(s): Peter O'Meara, Gary Wingrove, Michael Nolan
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 18(3)
Date: 08/2018
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SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit
Provides strategies for healthcare providers, communities, and local governments to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Includes facts for community members, essential steps for first responders, information for prescribers, safety advice for patients and family members, and resources for overdose survivors and their families.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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EMS Services in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities
Policy brief describing challenges for rural EMS providers, including workforce shortages and inconsistent funding. Features statistics including percentage of potentially excess deaths for 5 leading causes of death, with breakdowns by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and average EMS call time response and distribution of all-volunteer and all-paid staff EMS agencies, with breakdowns by 4 levels of population density. Discusses effects of the opioid crisis and Critical Access Hospital closures on provision of EMS services.
Author(s): Nikki King, Marcus Pigman, Sarah Huling, Brian Hanson
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Leaving the Emergency Department Without Complete Care: Disparities In American Indian Children
Examines children who leave the emergency department (ED) without complete evaluation or care (LWCET) in American Indian (AI) pediatric populations between June 2011 and May 2012. Analyzes 68,461 visits made by 47,228 children to 5 EDs and investigates factors such as demographic characteristics of patient, triage level, distance from the ED, timing of visit, ED activity level, and more.
Author(s): Tess L. Weber, Katherine M. Ziegler, Anupam B. Kharbanda, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 18(267)
Date: 04/2018
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