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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Statistics and data

Rural-Urban Differences in Access to and Attitudes Toward Care for Medicare Beneficiaries
Results of a study using data from the 2016 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to analyze differences between rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries in terms of travel time to usual provider, access barriers, and attitudes toward seeking care.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Ashley M. Hernandez, Megan Lahr
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Achieving Health Equity in Preventive Services: Evidence Summary
Summarizes research on achieving health equity in preventive services including screening, counseling, medication, and management for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in adult patients by identifying the effects of impediments and barriers that create disparities, and the effectiveness of strategies and interventions to reduce them. Study reports barriers that resulted in or explained a disparity in preventive service, and the effectiveness of the clinician-patient relationship, health information technology, and health system intervention. Studies included African American, Hispanic, Korean and Chinese American, and rural and low-income patients.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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State Incentive Programs that Encourage Allied Health Professionals to Provide Care for Rural and Underserved Populations
Policy brief investigating allied health incentive programs at the state level by examining their goals, policies, practices, and available data on their achievement in recruiting and retaining allied health professionals to rural and underserved areas. Nearly 70 programs were surveyed and documented that provided financial support or training opportunities for 39 different types of allied health professionals and students in return for a service commitment.
Author(s): Malaika R. Schwartz, Davis G. Patterson, Rachelle L. McCarty
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
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Demand for Broadband in Rural Areas: Implications for Universal Access
Reports on the characteristics of demand for fixed broadband among households and small businesses in rural areas and how they affect private sector infrastructure investments. Discusses the role of schools and libraries as providers of broadband service and training to rural residents, and how broadband enabled services, such as telemedicine, may encourage rural households and small businesses to adopt the technology. Highlights federal programs and policies that may increase or impede broadband demand, and offers options for the U.S. Congress to consider as it addresses rural broadband demand.
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Behavioral Health in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities
Examines the prevalence of behavioral health disorders in rural populations with an emphasis on high-risk populations. Discusses access to behavioral health services in rural areas, and the barriers associated with the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Highlights programs and policy strategies known to demonstrate improvements in behavioral health systems, and offers policy recommendations for change supporting improved outcomes in rural populations.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): John Gale, Jaclyn Janis, Andrew Coburn, Hanna Rochford
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Partial Psychiatric Hospitalization Program Availability in Non-Metropolitan and Metropolitan Hospitals Nationally
Describes the purpose of partial psychiatric hospitalization programs (PPHPs), and compares 2016 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals data on the availability and the characteristics of PPHPs among non-metropolitan and metropolitan hospitals in the U.S.
Author(s): Timothy Williams, Tyrone F. Borders, Lindsey Jasinski
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
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Maternal Characteristics and Birth Outcomes among Oklahoma Medicaid: 2016 SoonerCare – Birth Data Linkage Report
Examines birth outcomes of mothers with live births paid by SoonerCare, Oklahoma's Medicaid, versus mothers with live births not paid by SoonerCare using 2016 data from the Oklahoma Medicaid Management Information Systems of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and the Center for Health Statistics division of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Data compared includes personal and clinical demographics, including rural/urban dwelling.
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Oklahoma State Department of Health
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Differences in Select Measures of Health Care Access, Utilization, and Financial Burden by Urbanicity, 2017
Examines healthcare access, utilization, and financial burden among adults aged 18-64 living in large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), small MSAs, and nonmetro (rural) areas. Includes both unadjusted data and data adjusted to focus on the effects of urbanicity by accounting for potential sociodemographic or health characteristics that might impact access.
Author(s): Emily P. Terlizzi, Robin A. Cohen
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Veterans Health Care: Services for Substance Use Disorders, and Efforts to Address Access Issues in Rural Areas
Identifies and compares the differences in the number of veterans, and the expenditures for veterans receiving substance use disorder (SUD) services, and specialty SUD services in rural and urban areas. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) policies were reviewed, interviews were conducted with agency officials, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data from 2014 to 2018 was analyzed to develop the report.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Declines In Pediatric Mortality Fall Short For Rural US Children
Examines pediatric mortality rates from 1999-2017 and related factors of race/ethnicity and rurality. Provides data according to age, race/ethnicity, cause-specific mortality, and rural versus urban county.
Author(s): Janice Probst, Whitney Zahnd, Charity Breneman
Citation: Health Affairs, 38, 12
Date: 11/2019
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