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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Statistics and data

Hospital Value-Based Purchasing: CMS Should Take Steps to Ensure Lower Quality Hospitals Do Not Qualify for Bonuses
Examines the scoring methodology used by the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program, which measures quality and efficiency within multiple hospital types including small, rural, and safety-net hospitals. Addresses differences in how safety net, small rural, and small urban hospitals performed, how payment adjustments changed for them over time, and the impact of an efficiency score on payment adjustments. Supports revising the methodology to apply the standards more evenly.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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A Project to Promote Adherence to Blood Pressure Medication Among People Who Use Community Pharmacies in Rural Montana, 2014–2016
Results of a project conducted by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to evaluate interventions by community pharmacies to promote blood pressure medication adherence. Includes optional activity through which clinicians can earn continuing medical education credit.
Author(s): Carrie S. Oser, Crystelle C. Fogle, James A. Bennett
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 14
Date: 06/2017
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Rural Population Change Varies Across the United States
Map showing nonmetropolitan counties that lost population, saw population growth below 4.5%, or grew 4.5% or more between 2010 and 2016.
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Rural and Urban Differences in Air Quality, 2008-2012, and Community Drinking Water Quality, 2010-2015 — United States
Examines air- and water-quality data and discusses how these environmental hazards vary across a spectrum of urban to rural counties. Includes rural-urban air pollutant data for ozone and particulate matter and data for 10 water contaminants for rural and urban community water systems.
Author(s): Heather Strosnider, Caitlin Kennedy, Michele Monti, Fuyuen Yip
Citation: MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 66(13), 1-10
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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In 2015, Annual Earnings in Rural Areas Were 15 Percent Lower than Earnings in Urban Areas
Bar chart showing rural and urban median earnings by industry, covering a variety of industries including mining, manufacturing, finance, agriculture, and recreation.
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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CMS Hospital Quality Star Rating: For 762 Rural Hospitals, No Stars Is the Problem
Examines the characteristics of rural hospitals with and without quality star ratings, and explains how the current methodology disproportionately affects rural hospitals. Makes recommendations for improving the utility of the Hospital Quality Star Rating system, especially for the purpose of comparing quality among rural hospitals or between rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Kristie W. Thompson, Randy K. Randolph, Kristin L. Reiter, George H. Pink, G. Mark Holmes
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Rural and Urban Utilization of the Emergency Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Details a report on the use of emergency services in treating mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) in both rural and urban settings. Discusses healthcare needs of MH/SA patients, as well as the increasing demands on emergency departments. Breaks down data by urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural emergency departments, as well as by age and primary payer of patients.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder, Mandi Leigh-Peterson
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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Pregnancy Outcomes After Maternal Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy — U.S. Territories, January 1, 2016-April 25, 2017
Provides data on Zika virus infection in pregnant women and outcomes in their fetuses and infants in the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands and the U.S. freely associated states of Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands.
Author(s): Carrie K. Shapiro-Mendoza, Marion E. Rice, Romeo R. Galang, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 66(23), 615-621
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Teens Aged 4-17 Years Ever Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), by Sex and Urbanization of County of Residence — National Health Interview Survey, 2013–2015
Bar chart showing ADHD diagnoses for boys and girls, with data for metropolitan and nonmetro counties.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 66(23), 625
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Factors Affecting States' Ability to Respond to Federal Medicaid Cuts and Caps: Which States Are Most At Risk?
Examines 30 key factors that contribute to state-by-state differences in Medicaid per enrollee spending including rural population, and uses the factors to rank and identify which states are at greatest risk if federal Medicaid cuts or caps are enacted. Presents findings across five main areas: Medicaid policy, demographics, health status, available tax revenue and state budget choices, and healthcare markets.
Author(s): Robin Rudowitz, Allison Valentine, Petry Ubri, Julia Zur
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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