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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

A Comparative Analysis of New York's Active Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Research brief using data drawn from survey responses collected between September 2015 - December 2017, exploring similarities and differences between New York state physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Features statistics with breakdowns by rural and urban practice locations.
Author(s): Yuhao Liu, Robert Martiniano, Jean Moore
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Workforce Studies
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What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities
Report highlights different outcomes and opinions of people in rural, suburban, and urban communities on a number of topics, including demographic shifts, urgent problems, and life satisfaction, among others. Features demographic data, a county level breakdown, and a case study highlighting a rural, suburban, and urban county.
Additional links: Full Report
Author(s): Kim Parker, Juliana Horowitz, Anna Brown, et al.
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Reporting of Indian Health Service Coverage in the American Community Survey
Evaluates the extent to which American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people incorrectly report Indian Health Services (IHS) coverage in the American Community Services (ACS), as well as characteristics associated with false negative and false positive misreporting. Includes data on urban/rural residence. Findings based on a comparison of the IHS portion of the 2014 ACS health insurance question to whether or not individuals are in the 2014 IHS Patient Registration data.
Author(s): Renuka Bhaskar, Rachel M. Shattuck, James Noon
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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The Health Care Workforce: Addressing Shortages and Improving Care
Testimony in the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on May 22, 2018. Examines the growing problem of healthcare shortages in rural areas and the response by the federal government. Also explores how well healthcare professionals are being trained and why they choose the geographical areas where they work. Focuses on shortages of physicians, nurses, and professionals specializing in care of older adults.
Additional links: Testimony by Elizabeth A. Phelan, Testimony by Julie Tanner Sanford, Testimony by Kristen H. Goodell
Author(s): Kristen Goodell, Julie Sanford, Elizabeth Phelan
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2018
Provides a national and state-by-state overview of population health for older adults across 34 measures, as well as two supplemental measures new in 2018: suicide rate and risk of social isolation. Includes a special focus on persistent health differences and challenges facing rural seniors.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: United Health Foundation
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Deaths from Falls Among Persons Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2007–2016
Reports on rates and trends for deaths from falls for people age 65 and older from 2007 to 2016. Includes data by urban/rural status, as well as for other selected characteristics.
Author(s): Elizabeth Burns, Ramakrishna Kakara
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 67(18), 509-514
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Characteristics of U.S. Medical Graduates and International Medical Graduates in North Dakota
Uses 2017 data from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to show the characteristics of direct care physicians practicing in North Dakota. Includes breakdowns by sex and rural/urban status, year of graduation, work location, specialty, and primary care specialty.
Author(s): Gary Hart, Robin Besse, Mandi-Leigh Peterson
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organizations: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Cross-Jurisdictional Resource Sharing in Local Health Departments: Implications for Services, Quality, and Cost
Examines Local Health Departments (LHDs) in Connecticut and Massachusetts and discusses how to increase capacity of public health systems in smaller municipalities. Analyzes 15 resource-sharing jurisdictions and 54 single-municipality jurisdictions and provides benefits and drawbacks of the 2 models. Includes data on demographic and organizational characteristics of independent and sharing municipalities including percentages of rural, suburban, and urban municipality type.
Author(s): Debbie L. Humphries, Justeen Hyde, Ethan Hahn, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 6(115), 1-13
Date: 04/2018
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The Rise of the Current Mortality Pattern of the United States, 1890–1930
Uses nationwide data to examine patterns and rural/urban differences in mortality from 1890-1930, with a focus on the 1918 influenza pandemic and the shift in leading causes of death from infectious disease to degenerative disease. Includes death rates per 100,000 people, with data broken down by rurality and disease type, including infectious disease, influenza, influenza and pneumonia, and degenerative disease.
Author(s): Hiroshi Maeda
Citation: American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(4), 639-646
Date: 04/2018
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Comparison of Access to Eye Care Appointments Between Patients with Medicaid and Those with Private Health Care Insurance
Explores if patients with Medicaid and private health insurance in Maryland and Michigan experience differences in access to eye care appointments. Includes information on the rate at which appointments were obtained for patients and the length of appointment wait times by a variety of factors, including for urban and rural patients.
Author(s): Yoon H. Lee, Andrew X. Chen, Varshini Varadaraj, et al.
Citation: JAMA Ophthalmology, 136(6), 622-629
Date: 04/2018
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