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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Performance of Rural and Urban Home Health Agencies in Improving Patient Outcomes: Final Report
Describes the results of a study to determine whether rural and urban home care agencies differ in terms of patient care outcomes, and to ascertain whether there are agency characteristics that are associated with better or worse outcomes.
Author(s): Janet P. Sutton
Date: 05/2006
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Medicare Hospital Pharmaceuticals: Survey Shows Price Variations and Highlights Data Collection Lessons and Outpatient Rate-Setting Challenges for CMS
Analyzes Medicare specified covered outpatient drugs (SCOD) price variation across hospitals. Includes information on prices paid by rural hospitals compared to urban hospitals.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 04/2006
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Rural Dental Practice: A Tale of Four States
Reports the findings of a study investigating rural dentist issues, such as: demography, training, practice characteristics, staff, and job satisfaction in Alabama, California, Maine, and Missouri.
Additional links: Project Summary
Author(s): C. Holly A. Andrilla, Denise M. Lishner, L. Gary Hart
Date: 03/2006
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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A Review of State Flex Program Plans, 2004-2005
Examines the objectives and project activities proposed by states in their Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program) grant applications for Fiscal Year 2004 to strengthen the rural healthcare infrastructure in their states.
Author(s): Stephenie Loux, John Gale, Anush Yousefian, Andrew Coburn, Walter Gregg
Date: 03/2006
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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How Adults' Access to Outpatient Physician Services Relates to the Local Supply of Primary Care Physicians in the Rural Southeast
Examined how access to outpatient medical care varies with local primary care physician densities across primary care service areas in the rural Southeast, for adults, the elderly, and the poor.
Author(s): Donald E. Pathman, Thomas C. Ricketts III, Thomas R. Konrad
Citation: Health Services Research, 41(1), 79-102
Date: 02/2006
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Rural Health Research in Progress in the Rural Health Research Centers Program, 10th Edition
Summarizes rural health services research conducted by the Rural Health Research Centers Program of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
Date: 02/2006
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Activities Funded by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
Describes the EMS-related projects that states proposed to conduct in fiscal year 2004-2005 as part of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program.
Date: 02/2006
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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The 2006 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to rural America. Examines three key topics: access to pharmaceuticals and pharmacy services, health information technology, and family caregiver support of the rural elderly.
Date: 01/2006
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Rural and Frontier Mental and Behavioral Health Care: Barriers, Effective Policy Strategies, Best Practices
Reports on the mental health and substance abuse needs of people living in rural and frontier areas. Discusses barriers, model programs, policy strategies, and telehealth. Also addresses the role that State Offices of Rural Health and other state and local organizations can play in rural behavioral health service delivery.
Author(s): Donald Sawyer, John Gale, David Lambert
Date: 2006
Sponsoring organization: National Association for Rural Mental Health
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Public Health Preparedness: Integrating Public Health and Hospital Preparedness Programs
Examines different models for coordination that local health departments and general acute-care hospitals have employed to improve public health preparedness. Includes discussion of rural issues.
Author(s): Lois M. Davis, Jeanne S. Ringel, Sarah K. Cotton, et al.
Date: 2006
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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