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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Emergency medical services

Improving Efficiency and Preserving Access to Emergency Care in Rural Areas
Slides that provide background on rural hospital payment policy and strategies to preserve access to emergency care in rural areas. Discusses existing payment models and benefits and drawbacks of different models.
Author(s): Jeff Stensland, Zach Gaumer
Date: 04/2016
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Fired Up: Community Paramedicine Models Blaze a Trail for Healthcare Delivery Reform
Discusses how fire departments can target frequent 911 users to reduce emergency room visits. Highlights community paramedicine program models in Arizona, including examples from rural communities.
Date: 02/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Vitalyst Health Foundation
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2016 Rural EMS Sustainability Survey Results
Reports the results of a rural emergency medical service (EMS) sustainability survey conducted in Minnesota in 2016. Analyzes data describing rural EMS characteristics, workforce and staffing, medical direction, financial management, agency leadership, and community relations.
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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National Characteristics of Emergency Medical Services in Frontier and Remote Areas
Outlines national characteristics for emergency medical services in frontier and remote (FAR) areas. Includes patient demographics, provider clinical impression and injuries, and procedures performed in FAR and non-FAR patients.
Author(s): Landon R. Mueller, John P. Donnelly, Karen E. Jacobson, et al.
Citation: Prehospital Emergency Care, 20(2), 191-199
Date: 2016
Type: Document
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The Two Georgias: Addressing Health Equity in Rural Georgia
A series of articles discussing health disparities between rural and urban Georgia. Includes sections devoted to literature reviews, qualitative research, population science, needs assessments, and public health practices. Topics range from rural hospital closure, access and use of EMS services, and teen pregnancy, to social determinants of health as connected to childcare programs.
Citation: Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, 5(4), 294-404
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Public Health Association
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Secondary Overtriage in a Statewide Rural Trauma System
Analyzes secondary overtriage in West Virginia hospitals to determine the efficiency of a statewide rural trauma system. Table 1 details non-transfer and transfer patient characteristics and table 5 details factors linked with secondary overtriage.
Author(s): Jorge Con, Dustin Long, Emily Sasala, et al.
Citation: Journal of Surgical Research, 198(2), 462-467
Date: 10/2015
Type: Document
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Report to Congress: Evaluations of Hospitals' Ambulance Data on Medicare Cost Reports and Feasibility of Obtaining Cost Data from All Ambulance Providers and Suppliers
Exploration of the use of cost surveys and reports to collect data on ambulance services, examination of development of a standard cost reporting tool for providers of services and suppliers of ground ambulance services, and examination of the ability to furnish cost data by various types of ambulance providers of services and suppliers, especially for rural and super-rural providers. Features statistics from fiscal years 2007-2012 relating to costs, number of trips by type of hospital, distribution of provider/supplier trip volume, origin-destination pairs, and barriers experienced by people in geographically isolated areas.
Date: 09/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Personnel in Rural Areas: Results from a Survey in Nine States
Results of a 2008 Centers for Disease Control survey comparing patterns of supply and demand in rural and urban areas for prehospital emergency response personnel and examining involvement of medical directors and availability of medical consultation. Includes statistics on organizations, personnel, and types of medical emergencies, with breakdowns by four population density categories.
Author(s): Davis G. Patterson, Susan M. Skillman, Meredith A. Fordyce
Date: 08/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Rural Healthy People 2020: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2020, Volume 1
Provides a rural focus for the Healthy People 2020 priorities. Includes overviews of the top 10 rural health priority areas identified by rural stakeholders. (Volume 2 discusses priorities 11-20.) Topics addressed include: health insurance, primary care, emergency services, nutrition and weight status, diabetes, mental health, substance abuse, heart disease and stroke, physical activity, older adults, maternal and child health, and tobacco use. Each overview includes reviews of the relevant literature and models that rural communities can use to address the issues. Document is available for free download, after providing brief information about intended use.
Author(s): Jane N. Bolin, Gail Bellamy, Alva O. Ferdinand, Bita Kash, Janet W. Helduser
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Integrating Safety in the Rural Transportation Planning Process
Provides techniques for integrating safety into the planning and program process at the local and state level to assure rural roads are safe and accessible for a variety of multimodal needs including emergency medical services and use by fire departments and law enforcement.
Author(s): Nicole Waldheim, Susan Herbel, Carrie Kissel
Date: 11/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Transit Administration
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