Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on CY 2026 Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B for Payment Policies
Comment on a July 16, 2025, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve payment systems for physicians and other Medicare Part B revisions. Includes a discussion of a proposal to allow Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to provide and bill for medical visits via telehealth and be paid at Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)-equivalent rates through December 2026.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Comment on a July 16, 2025, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve payment systems for physicians and other Medicare Part B revisions. Includes a discussion of a proposal to allow Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to provide and bill for medical visits via telehealth and be paid at Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)-equivalent rates through December 2026.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Boosting Maternity Care in Rural America
Provides a brief overview of the state of maternal healthcare in rural areas. Highlights state and federal actions taken to improve access to quality maternal care and improve birth outcomes.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Provides a brief overview of the state of maternal healthcare in rural areas. Highlights state and federal actions taken to improve access to quality maternal care and improve birth outcomes.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Telemedicine Buprenorphine Access For Incarcerated People: Lessons Learned From Maryland's Rural Jails
Explores the lessons learned form implementing a telemedicine-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Maryland jails. Highlights the challenges and opportunities expanding, establishing, and implementing buprenorphine treatment via tele-medicine. Draws conclusions for future interventions.
Author(s): Max Spaderna, Annabelle M. Belcher, Chris Welsh, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 44(9), 1131-1137
Date: 09/2025
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Explores the lessons learned form implementing a telemedicine-based buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Maryland jails. Highlights the challenges and opportunities expanding, establishing, and implementing buprenorphine treatment via tele-medicine. Draws conclusions for future interventions.
Author(s): Max Spaderna, Annabelle M. Belcher, Chris Welsh, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 44(9), 1131-1137
Date: 09/2025
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Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: A Policy Menu for States
Presents policy strategies utilized by states to strengthen primary care across five priority areas. Strategies cover primary care reimbursement; addressing individual, community, and market-level barriers to care; expanding and supporting the primary care workforce; and supporting practice transformation. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Milbank Memorial Fund, National Academy for State Health Policy
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Presents policy strategies utilized by states to strengthen primary care across five priority areas. Strategies cover primary care reimbursement; addressing individual, community, and market-level barriers to care; expanding and supporting the primary care workforce; and supporting practice transformation. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Milbank Memorial Fund, National Academy for State Health Policy
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Satisfaction with Telehealth Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Among Individuals Living in Rural and Nonrural Areas
Presents a study on the care satisfaction and provider-patient relationship of telehealth-based opioid use disorder treatment. Bases conclusions on the results of a participant survey and breaks down data by participant characteristics, their reason for preferring telehealth treatment, and rural versus nonrural location.
Author(s): Lauren Hendy, Amanda Olguin, Cynthia Jimes, et al.
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 31(8), 1039-1046
Date: 08/2025
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Presents a study on the care satisfaction and provider-patient relationship of telehealth-based opioid use disorder treatment. Bases conclusions on the results of a participant survey and breaks down data by participant characteristics, their reason for preferring telehealth treatment, and rural versus nonrural location.
Author(s): Lauren Hendy, Amanda Olguin, Cynthia Jimes, et al.
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 31(8), 1039-1046
Date: 08/2025
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Investments in Primary Care Research for 2023 and 2024
Provides an overview of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) primary care research investments in 2023 and 2024. See document pages 88-90 for summaries of rural primary care research grants.
Additional links: At-a-Glance: AHRQ's Recent Investments in Primary Care Research
Author(s): Jessie Gerteis, Neve Brennan, Jessica McNab, et al.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Provides an overview of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) primary care research investments in 2023 and 2024. See document pages 88-90 for summaries of rural primary care research grants.
Additional links: At-a-Glance: AHRQ's Recent Investments in Primary Care Research
Author(s): Jessie Gerteis, Neve Brennan, Jessica McNab, et al.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Rural Life, Rural Healthcare, and Telehealth: An Interpretive Phenomenology Study
Explores themes related to healthcare access, telehealth use, and rural life contexts among 16 adults in rural and remote areas of California. Details interviewee perceptions of healthcare availability, geographic and environmental influences on healthcare access, benefits and drawbacks of telehealth use, and more.
Author(s): Meghan Rowe Ferrara, Susan A. Chapman
Citation: Rural Sociology, 90(3), e70016
Date: 08/2025
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Explores themes related to healthcare access, telehealth use, and rural life contexts among 16 adults in rural and remote areas of California. Details interviewee perceptions of healthcare availability, geographic and environmental influences on healthcare access, benefits and drawbacks of telehealth use, and more.
Author(s): Meghan Rowe Ferrara, Susan A. Chapman
Citation: Rural Sociology, 90(3), e70016
Date: 08/2025
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Telehealth, Telebehavioral Health, and Patient Portal Willingness, Use, and Access Challenges among Migrant Farmworkers on H-2A Visas, North Carolina, USA, 2024
Results of a study examining use of digital healthcare platforms among 327 farmworkers arriving in North Carolina on temporary H-2A work visas. Features demographics and statistics on associations between use of digital healthcare and other variables.
Author(s): Elisabeth C. Reed, Nowrin Nusrat, Lilibeth Andres, et al.
Citation: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Date: 08/2025
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Results of a study examining use of digital healthcare platforms among 327 farmworkers arriving in North Carolina on temporary H-2A work visas. Features demographics and statistics on associations between use of digital healthcare and other variables.
Author(s): Elisabeth C. Reed, Nowrin Nusrat, Lilibeth Andres, et al.
Citation: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Date: 08/2025
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Bridging Rural Communities: Telehealth Innovations for Appalachia and Beyond
Video series on innovative approaches to telehealth in rural Appalachia, hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Center (MATRC) on August 1, 2025. Features speakers on telehealth use in veterans' healthcare, substance use recovery, palliative care, mental health, healthy aging, emergency preparedness and response, cancer screening, and other topics related to healthcare access, quality of care, and healthcare economics. Transcripts are available via video descriptions.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center
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Video series on innovative approaches to telehealth in rural Appalachia, hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Center (MATRC) on August 1, 2025. Features speakers on telehealth use in veterans' healthcare, substance use recovery, palliative care, mental health, healthy aging, emergency preparedness and response, cancer screening, and other topics related to healthcare access, quality of care, and healthcare economics. Transcripts are available via video descriptions.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center
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Pharmacy Barriers to Receiving Buprenorphine Among Patients Undergoing Telemedicine Addiction Treatment
Presents a study exploring pharmacy-level barriers experienced by patients with opioid use disorder who are receiving treatment via telemedicine. Discusses barriers that lead to missed doses or inaccessible prescriptions. Breaks down data by health and demographic characteristics, such as age, education, and insurance type, among others, and whether the patient lived in a rural or nonrural area.
Author(s): Lauren E. Hendy, Lucas G. Hill, Amanda Olguin, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 8(8), e2527418
Date: 08/2025
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Presents a study exploring pharmacy-level barriers experienced by patients with opioid use disorder who are receiving treatment via telemedicine. Discusses barriers that lead to missed doses or inaccessible prescriptions. Breaks down data by health and demographic characteristics, such as age, education, and insurance type, among others, and whether the patient lived in a rural or nonrural area.
Author(s): Lauren E. Hendy, Lucas G. Hill, Amanda Olguin, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 8(8), e2527418
Date: 08/2025
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