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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Pediatric Vaccination Rates in Rural America
Policy position paper regarding declining vaccination rates of children in rural communities. Compares rural and urban childhood vaccination rates and the potential for increasing health disparities. Describes a "5As of vaccine access" policy framework to evaluate current and future immunization policies and proposals. Offers recommended actions for federal, state, and local governments and organizations to improve rural vaccine uptake.
Author(s): Cynthia Calixte, Nitika Moibi, Andrea Stephenson Royster
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Rural Long-Term Care Services and Supports
Policy position paper regarding challenges related to providing high-quality long-term care for older adults in rural areas. Describes how workforce shortages, long-term care financing, and administrative burden impact rural providers. Outlines policy recommendations for policy reforms to address these challenges and improve access to quality long-term care services.
Author(s): Shakeerah McCoy, Jeff Dunbar, Lex Pierre
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Improving the Maternity Care Safety Net: Establishing Maternal Mortality Surveillance for Non-Obstetric Providers and Institutions
Examines a quality improvement plan implemented by the Veterans Health Administration (VA) that utilizes system-level surveillance to monitor non-obstetric care for pregnant veterans. Examines maternal mortality of veterans using VA maternity care benefits, with 2011-2020 data broken down by age, race/ethnicity, and rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Joan L. Combellick, Bridget Basile Ibrahim, Aryan Esmaeili, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(1), 37
Date: 12/2023
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December 2023 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2023 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for physician and other health professional services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, hospice services, outpatient dialysis services, ambulatory surgical center services, skilled nursing facilities, skilled nursing facility services, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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2023 Technical Expert Panel Meetings: Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model Summary Report
Provides an overview of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Expanded HHVBP Model. Summarizes discussions and feedback from the Expanded HHVBP Technical Expert Panel in 2023, including health equity approaches, performance measures, measure weights, and performance reporting. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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A Community-Engaged Approach to Understanding Suicide in a Small Rural County in Georgia: A Two-Phase Content Analysis of Individual and Focus Group Interviews
Evaluates the need for suicide prevention and appropriateness of prevention efforts in a rural Georgia county, utilizing data from 20 individual interviews and 2 focus groups conducted August 2021-June 2022. Details individual and community contextual drivers of suicide, facilitators and barriers of medical and social support access, linkage gaps in mental healthcare services, and factors influencing community response.
Author(s): Kimberly Beth Roth, Eleni Gaveras, Fatima Ghiathi, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(24), 7145
Date: 12/2023
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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 and rurality, among other measures.
Author(s): Nathaniel Albright, Christina Dyar, Ethan Morgan
Citation: Substance Use & Misuse, 59(2), 300-305
Date: 12/2023
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Assessing Social Needs and Engaging Community Health Workers in Underserved Kansas Counties: Insights From Primary Care Providers and Clinic Managers
Explores how rural and urban communities in Kansas are screening for social determinants of health and using community health workers to address challenges. Bases findings on surveys of providers and clinic managers.
Author(s): Kristina M. Bridges, Joseph W. LeMaster, Daniel J. Parente, et al
Citation: Journal of Primary Care and Community Health, 14
Date: 12/2023
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Virginia Oral Health Workforce Gap Assessment
Report describing challenges in ensuring that all Virginians have equitable access oral healthcare, and offering an actionable framework for addressing them. Features statistics on the Virginia oral healthcare workforce, including numbers of dentists and dental hygienists, numbers of dentists treating Medicaid patients by year from 2012-2022, and a map showing dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. Includes information about the Virginia state loan repayment program for eligible providers.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Health Catalyst
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Changes in Perceptions of First Responders after Witnessing a Drug Overdose: Individual and Contextual Variations among People Who Use Opioids in West Virginia
Evaluates changes in attitude toward first responders among people who witnessed an overdose and stayed until first responders arrived. Utilizes interview data from 50 nonmedical users of prescription opioids from 3 rural Appalachian West Virginia counties. Identifies personal and contextual factors associated with changed perceptions of first responders.
Author(s): Kathleen L. Egan, Kelly Gurka, Alexandria Macmadu, Herb Linn
Citation: Journal of Appalachian Health, 5(3), 22-37
Date: 12/2023
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