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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Rural and Nonrural Primary Care Physician Practices Increasingly Rely on Nurse Practitioners
Details a study comparing rural and urban reliance on nurse practitioners as providers of primary care. Discusses the role of Medicaid expansion and scope of practice in findings.
Author(s): Hilary Barnes, Michael R. Richards, Matthew D. McHugh, Grant Martsolf
Citation: Health Affairs, 37(6)
Date: 06/2018
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Engaging People with Disabilities: Strategies for Rural Health Departments
Discusses various methods for rural health departments to engage with people with disabilities. Highlights differences for rural disabled people. Presents county-level map of rural disabled populations.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Vermont Care Network and the State of Vermont: A Shared Data Repository for Community-Based Behavioral Health Providers
Features a case study of the collaboration between HRSA, the Vermont Care Network, and the state of Vermont to create a state-wide data repository for behavioral health and developmental disability services. Details the types of data collected and the process by which it is aggregated and analyzed.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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It's an Addiction Crisis: Across Minnesota, the "Opioid Crisis" Is So Much More Than Just Opioids
Details the opioid crisis in the state of Minnesota. Includes statistics on overdose deaths and treatment admissions for alcohol, heroin, methamphetamine, and other opiates. Covers hospital addition costs and workforce issues posing a barrier to access in rural areas. Reviews 3 rural community models working to address substance abuse.
Author(s): Marnie Werner
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Policy and Development
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Drug Discount Program: Federal Oversight of Compliance at 340B Contract Pharmacies Needs Improvement
Focuses on the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which allows certain facilities such as Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to purchase prescription and non-prescription medications at reduced cost. Describes financial arrangements participating facilities have with contract pharmacies, the extent to which they provide discounts on 340B drugs dispensed by contract pharmacies to low-income, uninsured patients, and examines the Health Resources and Services Administration's efforts to ensure compliance with 340B Program requirements at contract pharmacies.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Availability of Respiratory Care Services in Critical Access and Rural Hospitals
Policy brief describing availability of respiratory therapy and therapists in Critical Access Hospitals and in urban and rural Prospective Payment System hospitals in 2016. Includes statistics with breakdowns by hospital type and rural or urban location.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Alex Evenson, Ira Moscovice, Zhengtian Wu
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Where Are They? Examining General Surgery Workforce Issues
Describes challenges related to getting adequate data on the rural surgical workforce and what is needed to understand rural shortages.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Kissing Bug and Chagas Disease: What You Need to Know
Highlights identification information for the Chagas-disease-carrying kissing bugs in the Southern U.S. Presents county-level data for Texas.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Texas Chagas Taskforce
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What Makes Physician Assistant (PA) Training Programs Successful at Training Rural PAs?
Results of a study analyzing characteristics of PA programs producing high proportions of graduates who choose rural practice, using data collected from 173 programs from November 2015 through January 2016. Features statistics with breakdowns by rurally oriented and non-rurally oriented programs and those with high and low rural productivity.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Comprehensive Rural Population Health: Where is the General Surgeon?
Provides an overview of the role that general surgeons play, discusses the importance of surgical access, and describes efforts underway to attract students into the field and to train the rural surgical workforce.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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