Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
The Rural General Surgeon's Partner: Rural Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Describes the role that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) play in rural surgery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
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
view details
Opportunities and Challenges to Utilizing Telehealth Technologies in the Provision of Medication Assisted Therapies in the Medi-Cal Program
Describes advantages and barriers to using telehealth for delivery of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to California's Medicaid enrollees, especially those in rural and underserved areas. Includes recommendations for changes to California state laws in order to alleviate the challenges. Appendix C lists states allowing telehealth prescribing.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2018
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and offers recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Includes a chapter on ensuring appropriate access to and use of hospital emergency department (ED) services that provides extensive information on rural access to ED services and identifies examples of rural off-campus emergency departments. Other sections of the report addressing rural concerns focus on post-acute care, quality and value payment programs, and medical device payment policies. Also includes a report on the effects of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details