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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce

2019 Physician Assistant Telehealth Survey
Discusses survey results of 95 physician assistants (PAs) across Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma regarding their use and perceptions of telehealth. Examines survey results across a variety of geographic and practice settings. Presents a brief overview of some federal and state-level policies about PA reimbursement and their ability to provide telehealth services.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center
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Factors that Influence Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment
Results of a study examining factors that influence access to medication-assisted treatment and substance use disorder treatment, including rural location, stigma, shortage of providers, and insurance coverage. Uses data from an electronic survey distributed to 59 State Opioid Treatment Authorities or Single State Authorities in the spring of 2019.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): Dana Foney, Shannon Mace
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organizations: National Council for Mental Wellbeing, University of Michigan Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center
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Reaching the Quadruple Aim: Workforce and Service Delivery Within Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
Summary of data collected between February and August 2019 on the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model's impact on the behavioral workforce and the aims of improving patient and provider experiences, improving the health of populations, and reducing costs. Discusses access and barriers to care, workforce capacity, primary care and behavioral healthcare integration, and offers recommendations for enhancing financing and reimbursement. Features statistics including populations served by CCBHCs, with breakdowns by urban, rural, and tribal locations.
Author(s): Dana Foney, Shannon Mace, Adriano Boccanelli
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organizations: National Council for Mental Wellbeing, University of Michigan Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center
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Promising Practice: Educational Partnership Reaches Rural California Communities
Details a promising practice that works to expand health literacy among rural Latinos in California through a partnership between the California State Office of Rural Health and the California Department of Public Health's Office of Binational Border Health. Details the way the program is reaching rural Latinos through community health worker/promotores training.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Medicaid: Efforts to Identify, Predict, or Manage High-Expenditure Beneficiaries
Describes strategies used in 7 states to manage beneficiaries' healthcare costs while ensuring quality care, and lists resources the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides to help states identify, predict, and manage high-expenditure beneficiaries. Discusses effects of social determinants of health and staff shortages in rural areas. Includes statistics for Medicaid expenditures among beneficiaries enrolled only in Medicaid, for fiscal years 2009-2011.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Expanding the Native American Health Care Workforce
Offers recommendations for increasing the number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) medical school applicants, students, and graduates based on a summit, Populating the Native Health Care Workforce with American Indian and Alaska Native Physicians. Discusses the distribution of AI/AN physicians and the need for more AI/AN physicians to address health workforce shortages and disparities in Indian Country.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Association of American Indian Physicians, Association of American Medical Colleges, UnitedHealth Group
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Hospital Utilization Among Rural Children Served by Pediatric Neurology Telemedicine Clinics
Compares rates of emergency department visits and hospital admissions at a California academic children's hospital with similar groups of patients who received outpatient pediatric neurology care at remote telemedicine clinics or in-person clinics. Features statistics including baseline characteristics among telemedicine and in-person cohorts, and hospital encounter frequencies and rates.
Author(s): Parul Dayal, Celia H. Chang, William S. Benko
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(8)
Date: 08/2019
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Rural America Has a Maternal Mortality Problem. Midwives Might Help Solve It.
Highlights the role of certified professional midwives in providing access to maternal and newborn care using an example from an Amish area of Tennessee. Discusses differences in state policies and integration with local health systems. Includes a map identifying maternal mortality rates by state.
Author(s): April Simpson
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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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
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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2019 Medicaid and Commercial Access to Care Index: How Payer Type Influences Coloradans' Access to Needed Health Care
Provides information on healthcare access through both Medicaid and private insurers, as well as several other factors to determine whether the health needs of Colorado residents are being met. Measures improvement in healthcare access based on three components of access: potential access, barriers to care, and realized access. Features data breakdown by county.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Health Institute
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