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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiary Access to Physician Services: Trends in Utilization of Services, 2000-2002
Reports on Medicare beneficiaries' access to physician services in 2000, 2001, and 2002, with comparison of rural versus urban access.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2005
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Characteristics of Registered Nurses in Rural vs. Urban Areas: Implications for Strategies to Alleviate Nursing Shortages in the United States
Reports on characteristics of rural and urban registered nurses in the United States based on data from a national survey.
Author(s): Susan M. Skillman, Lorella Palazzo, David Keepnews, L. Gary Hart
Date: 01/2005
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
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Person and Place: The Compounding Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Rurality on Health
Discusses how the research addressing rural Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations suggests that disparities in health and in healthcare access found among rural racial/ethnic minority populations are generally more severe than those among urban racial/ethnic minorities.
Author(s): Janice Probst, Charity Moore, Saundra Glover, Michael Samuels
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 94(10), 1695-1703
Date: 10/2004
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Medicare: Information Needed to Assess Adequacy of Rate-Setting Methodology for Payments for Hospital Outpatient Services
Examines whether the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rate-setting methodology results in payment rates that uniformly reflect hospitals' costs for providing drugs and devices. Includes information specific to rural hospitals and the OPPS.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2004
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Exploring the Impact of Medicare's Post-Acute Care Transfer Payment Policy on Rural Hospitals
Describes a change in Medicare post-acute transfer payment policy and its impact on rural and urban hospitals. Includes data on the financial impact and hospital discharge behavior before and after the change.
Author(s): Julie A. Schoenman
Date: 07/2004
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Chartbook #13: Health Care in Urban and Rural Areas, Combined Years 1998-2000
Examines the differences in healthcare access, use, and expenses between urban and rural areas. Includes data for metropolitan, near-metro, near-rural, and rural counties.
Author(s): Sharon L. Larson, Steven R. Machlin, Alice Nixon, Marc Zodet
Date: 06/2004
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Medicare Home Health Care in Rural America
Describes the results of a study evaluating the degree to which Medicare beneficiaries received home health care from agencies outside of their county and the extent to which urban agencies served rural beneficiaries.
Author(s): Sheila J. Franco
Date: 01/2004
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Health, United States, 2004: With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans with Special Feature on Drugs
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access, and expenditures. Includes data on rural areas - see index under "metropolitan/nonmetropolitan data." 2004 edition includes a feature on prescription and nonprescription drug use.
Date: 2004
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Prescription Drug Spending and Coverage Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries in 2003
Examines out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs by noninstitutionalized rural Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older. Includes information on supplemental insurance coverage among rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries.
Author(s): Craig Caplan, Normandy Brangan
Date: 2004
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Rural-Urban Issues in the Wage Index Adjustment for Prospective Payment in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Discusses the use of the hospital wage index for the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system (SNF PPS) and how a change to an SNF wage index would impact rural and urban skilled nursing facilities. Also identifies some related issues that impact reimbursement to SNFs in both urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings Brief, January 2004
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 11/2003
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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