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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Medicaid and Housing Partnerships: A Resource for Local Health Departments
Explores how local health departments (LHDs) in rural areas can utilize Medicaid managed care levers to address homelessness and housing security issues. Summarizes results from a gap analysis and readiness assessment which identified key opportunities to help prepare 3 LHDs in rural North Carolina counties for the transition to Medicaid-managed care. Identifies action steps for these counties to strengthen housing supports that can also inform similar initiatives in other states.
Author(s): Matthew Ralls, Kathy Moses, Rob Houston
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Door-to-Door Vaccination Campaign Reaches the Most Vulnerable
Article and video describing the efforts of the Coalition Advocating for Pesticide Safety (CAPS), a community-based organization, to conduct COVID-19 vaccination outreach door-to-door in rural, at-risk, and immigrant communities in California. Describes the challenges facing public health agencies working in rural areas, vaccine hesitancy, and health disparities in rural areas.
Author(s): Stephen Johnson
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organizations: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Freethink
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COVID-19 in a Rural Health System in New York – Case Series and an Approach to Management
Highlights the hub-and-spoke system implemented by a hospital in New York's largest rural county to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Draws data on COVID-19 patients from March to May of 2020, evaluates the system's efficacy, and explores the challenges of rural pandemic response.
Author(s): Eyal Kedar, Regina Scott, Daniel M. Soule, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 21(3), 6464
Date: 07/2021
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Evolving Roles of Rural Hospitals: Evidence from Pandemic Experiences
Slides presented at the 2021 Southern Legislative Conference annual meeting. Presents data on the spread of COVID-19 in rural communities over time and compares confirmed COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths in urban and rural counties in the southern states. Highlights how state policies can invest in and support rural hospitals.
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Trends in Drug Overdose Mortality Rates in Kentucky, 2019-2020
Evaluates the changes in drug overdose mortality rates for Kentucky residents, using provisional 2020 death certificate data from the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics. Features statistics on Kentucky drug overdose deaths by month from 2011-2020, and Kentucky drug overdose mortality rates and rate ratios by demographic group from 2019-2020, with breakdowns by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence.
Author(s): Svetla Slavova, Dana Quesinberry, Sarah Hargrove, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(7)
Date: 07/2021
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COVID-19: Continued Attention Needed to Enhance Federal Preparedness, Response, Service Delivery, and Program Integrity
Discusses the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Provides an overview of federal actions on healthcare and economic policy areas through mid-June 2021, including data on vaccine administration and COVID-19 relief spending. Offers 15 new recommendations to federal agencies regarding public health, the economy, and program integrity that would improve the federal response.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Opioid Treatment Programs: A Key Treatment System Component
Issue brief examining state and federal-level policies related to opioid treatment programs (OTPs). Offers policy recommendations to increase access to opioid treatment in rural communities and other hard-to-reach settings.
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Rural-Urban Variations in Travel Burdens for Care: Findings from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey
Provides estimates of the distance traveled and time spent on one-way trips for medical and dental care, examines how rural residents' travel behaviors vary by sociodemographic and geographic characteristics, and evaluates factors associated with a high travel burden for medical and dental care among rural residents. Features statistics with breakdowns by time and distance traveled, age, sex, household income, and rural or urban residence.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Marvellous Akinlotan, Kristin Primm, Nima Khodakarami, Jane Bolin, Alva O. Ferdinand
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Remote Patient Monitoring Helps Rural Patients Recover at Home
Features Essentia Health's remote patient monitoring program, which allows patients to recover at home while still having access to medical attention. Describes how the program was used to treat COVID-19 patients, with plans to continue the program to treat other chronic diseases.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Most Frequent Principal Diagnoses for Inpatient Stays in U.S. Hospitals, 2018
Presents data on the most frequent principal diagnoses among nonmaternal, nonneonatal inpatient hospital stays. Uses the 2018 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to describe the number of stays, mean cost per stay, and aggregate costs. Examines the distribution of stays for the most common diagnoses by patient and hospital characteristics, including rurality.
Author(s): Kimberly W. McDermott, Marc Roemer
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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