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Resources by Topic: Statistics and data

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Assessment and Tailoring Study (WIC NATS)
Provides an overview of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and how local WIC agencies and clinic sites assess their breastfeeding and nutrition services to improve participant retention and service delivery. Includes two reports: a pre-pandemic nutrition assessment report at the state and local levels and a remote versus in-person report focused on assessment processes. Includes data from state agencies as well as 369 local WIC agencies, with differences between rural versus urban agencies discussed.
Additional links: Final Report Part 1, Final Report Part 2, Summary
Author(s): M. Gabay, A.A. Gola, M. Gearing, et al.
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration
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Sentinel Enhanced Dengue Surveillance System — Puerto Rico, 2012–2022
Highlights the results of viral Dengue surveillance in Puerto Rico from May, 2012 to December, 2022. Details and tracks the various forms of illnesses that Dengue presents as. Discusses other diseases caught via the surveillance, such as Zika, COVID-19, and other respiratory viruses.
Author(s): Zachary J. Madewell, Alfonso C. Hernandez-Romieu, Joshua M. Wong, et al.
Citation: MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 73(3), 1-29
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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CMS Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model: Fifth Annual Evaluation Report
Fifth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Explores the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 4. Describes changes to the model that were implemented in Model Year 4 and how BPCI Advanced relates to Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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Pandemic-Era Trends in Telehealth Use among Americans with Private Health Insurance
Brief analyzing telehealth use between 2019 and 2021 for people younger than 65 with private health insurance. Discusses the impact of COVID-19 on telehealth use. Analyzes data by various factors such as age, rurality, access, broadband availability, and more. Discusses policy implications related to broadband access, mental healthcare provider shortages, costs, access, and equity. Includes both nationwide and state-by-state rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): Beth Carter, Olivia Dean, Alex Hartzman, Luis Arzaluz, Aiden Wynia
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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VA Health Care: Additional Assessments of Mileage Reimbursement Data and Veterans' Travel Costs Needed
Provides an overview of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) mileage reimbursement benefit that reimburses eligible veterans for the use of personal vehicles to attend VHA-approved care. Explores the extent to which the benefit helps defray travel costs by describing the distance a veteran would have to travel to receive a non-zero reimbursement across a variety of conditions. Presents VHA data on veterans' use of the benefit from fiscal years 2010 through 2023, as well as fuel costs incurred and mileage reimbursement for hypothetical trips to 3 VA health systems by rurality. Offers recommendations to the VA and VHA on the collection and assessment of veterans' use of the mileage reimbursement benefit and how travel costs vary by subpopulations, such as rural veterans.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Association Between Characteristics of Employing Healthcare Facilities and Healthcare Worker Infection Rates and Psychosocial Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Analyzes associations between healthcare facility characteristics and healthcare workers' likelihood of COVID-19 infection, access to personal protective equipment, and burnout. Utilizes April 2020-May 2022 Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes (HERO) registry data. Covers facility characteristics including for-profit status, facility size, metropolitan or micropolitan location, and more.
Author(s): Jay B. Lusk, Pratik Manandhar, Laine E. Thomas, Emily C. O'Brien
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 24, 659
Date: 05/2024
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Veterans Affairs: Actions Needed to Improve Access to Care in the U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States
Examines how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates the population of veterans in the U.S. territories and freely associated states (FAS) to inform resource allocation and outreach needs. Describes how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) monitors veterans' use of and access to healthcare services at VHA facilities in the U.S. territories. Discusses challenges veterans face in accessing VHA services in the U.S. territories and FAS and VA efforts to address these challenges. Offers recommendations to the VA and Department of Defense to assess the data sources in its model for estimating the veteran population and its travel benefits policies for territory veterans.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Interoperable Exchange of Patient Health Information Among U.S. Hospitals: 2023
Presents data on the degree to which hospitals engage in the four domains of interoperable exchange - send, receive, find, and integrate - as of 2023 and describes trends between 2018 and 2023. Analyzes the frequency that non-federal acute care hospitals engaged in interoperable exchange by hospital characteristics, including hospital size, system affiliation status, rural or urban location, and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation. Describes hospitals' ability to exchange electronic health information with other providers across the care continuum and how clinicians use this information about the point of care.
Author(s): Meghan Hufstader Gabriel, Chelsea Richwine, Catherine Strawley, Wesley Barker, Jordan Everson
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Chronic Cough Diagnosis, Treatment, and Referral Practices among Family Physicians in the United States: A Survey Study
Presents results of a survey of 588 family physicians on chronic cough management practices. Provides data on diagnosis, treatment, and referral, including breakdowns by years of practice and rural versus urban location. Discusses challenges associated with providing chronic cough care in rural primary care settings.
Author(s): Joel B. Shields, Elisabeth Callen, Natalia Y. Loskutova, Jonathan Schelfhout, Christina M. Hester
Citation: BMC Primary Care, 25, 181
Date: 05/2024
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Cohort Profile: The Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment (AIRE) Study
Details a prospective cohort study focused on examining the respiratory health effects of childhood exposures to wind-blown particulate matter (PM) in a rural area of California. Utilizes 2017-2019 data to observe asthmatic symptoms and other health indicators across sociodemographic categories. Discusses the impact of PM on childhood health and the potential for geographic disparities.
Author(s): Shohreh F. Farzan, Elizabeth Kamai, Dayane Duenas Barahona, et al.
Citation: Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 38(4), 359-369
Date: 05/2024
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