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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Maternal health and prenatal care

Confronting Rural America's Health Care Crisis
Offers policy recommendations to stabilize the rural healthcare infrastructure and ensuring local access to care. Discusses strategies to provide financial relief to rural providers, preserve obstetric services, expand telehealth services, and address workforce shortages. Includes brief references to policy actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional links: Rural Hospital Transformation Models, Summary, The Case for Expanding Telehealth Services, July 2020
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center Rural Health Task Force
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Summary, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2-4, 2020
Summarizes the 87th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), which was held in Atlanta, Georgia. Presents an overview of national and state perspectives on the meeting's two areas of focus: rural maternal health and HIV prevention and treatment.
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Maternal Mortality: Trends in Pregnancy-Related Deaths and Federal Efforts to Reduce Them
Examines trends in pregnancy-related deaths between 2007 and 2016, Analyzes data by cause of death and patient demographic characteristics. Appendix III lists ongoing Department of Health and Human Services funding opportunities to address maternal mortality, including the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program. Appendix V provides an overview of efforts to reduce maternal mortality in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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MACPAC Response to Senate Finance Committee Request for Information on Maternal Health
Summarizes the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) examination of the role of Medicaid in maternity care. Describes results of its analysis of Medicaid-financed maternity care and program performance, an inventory of Medicaid policies, and plans to analyze policy solutions. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): Maternal Health Programs
Provides an overview of five maternal health programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Describes the core activities or focus areas, applicant eligibility, reporting requirements and performance measures, and funding history for each program. Features the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program, a pilot program that aims to improve access to maternity and obstetrics services in rural areas.
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Among Indigenous Women in the United States
Compares maternal mortality and morbidity rates of Native American and Alaska Native women to those of non-Hispanic White women in both rural and urban areas across the U.S. Draws from hospital discharge data from 2012 to 2015.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Alena N. Tofte, Lindsay K. Admon
Citation: Obstetrics and Gynecology, 135(2), 294-300
Date: 02/2020
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A Best Practices Approach to Treating Maternal Hemorrhage
Provides an overview of how Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, developed and implemented protocols to improve maternal hemorrhage outcomes. Discusses the impact and lessons learned from implementing the protocols as well, as future maternal health improvement goals at the medical center.
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Telemedicine and Pregnancy Care
Explores the role telemedicine can play in providing prenatal and postpartum care to women in rural areas. Highlights the types of specialized care that can be delivered via telemedicine to support maternal care in rural areas. Discusses some of the barriers to telemedicine implementation, including state-level Medicaid reimbursement policy.
Author(s): Gabriela Weigel, Brittni Frederiksen, Usha Ranji
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Patient and Hospital Factors Associated With Unexpected Newborn Complications Among Term Neonates in US Hospitals
Results of a study to examine the rates of severe, unexpected complications in full term newborns in 576 hospitals from January 2015 - December 2017. Explores whether rates vary significantly among hospitals and looks at risk factors and possible causes of variation. Features statistics on characteristics of mothers, hospitals, and delivery types, and median percentage of rural population in the counties where deliveries occurred.
Author(s): Mark A. Clapp, Kaitlyn E. James, Sara V. Bates, Anjali J. Kaimal
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(2)
Date: 02/2020
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Health Disparities in Rural America: Current Challenges and Future Solutions
Describes health risks experienced by rural people and the problems they face in accessing healthcare in shortage areas, and offers possible solutions. Includes a map showing Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas by county, and a list of states allowing full practice authority for nurse practitioners as of 2019.
Author(s): Theresa Capriotti, Tiffany Pearson, Lillian Dufour
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: Clinical Advisor
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