This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Surgery

Hospitals Face Financial Challenges Due to COVID-19
Describes the financial impact of COVID-19 on Kittitas Valley Healthcare in Ellensburg, Washington. Discusses the decline in emergency department and non-emergency surgery volume and changes to labor costs as a percentage of net revenue.
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details
Expect Delays: Poor Connections Between Rural and Urban Health Systems Challenge Multidisciplinary Care for Rural Americans with Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Investigates communication barriers between rural and urban health systems to identify factors that may be contributing to higher risk of major amputation among rural patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) compared to urban patients with DFUs. Barriers for rural providers include time-consuming referrals; poor interactions with urban providers; and data sharing issues due to multiple, disconnected electronic health records.
Author(s): Bryn L. Sutherland, Kristen Pecanac, Christie M. Bartels, Meghan B. Brennan
Citation: Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 13(1), 32
Date: 06/2020
view details
Safety in Numbers: Hospital Performance on Leapfrog's Surgical Volume Standard Based on Results of the 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Survey
Compares hospital and surgeon volume for 8 high-risk procedures to Leapfrog's minimum volume standards. Identifies the percent of rural hospitals that meet Leapfrog's volume standard for each procedure, as well as the percent of rural hospitals that do not electively perform these procedures.
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: Leapfrog Group
view details
Hospitalizations for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries — United States, 1999–2017
Reports on hospitalization for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, with data by location of patient residence for urban and rural areas. Includes information on hospitalization rates, surgery rates, readmission rates, mortality, and length of stay.
Author(s): Fang Xu, Anne G. Wheaton, Yong Liu, Hua Lu, Kurt J. Greenlund
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 68(49), 1134-1138
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
Operative Time and Cost Variability for Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery
Examines the sources of variation in costs of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) to determine the value of the procedure by analyzing cost and operative time data from 13 different facilities (four community rural hospitals, seven community urban centers, and two tertiary care centers) within Intermountain Healthcare (IHC).
Author(s): Andrew J. Thomas, Kristine A. Smith, Christopher I. Newberry, et al.
Citation: International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, 9(1), 23-29
Date: 01/2019
view details
Motivators, Barriers, and Facilitators to Traveling to the Safest Hospitals in the United States for Complex Cancer Surgery
Results of a nationally representative survey conducted in January 2018, in which 1,016 adults were asked what factors they would consider when deciding whether to seek cancer treatment at their local hospital or at a specialized facility an hour or more away from their home. Table 1 features demographic information including breakdowns by metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residence.
Author(s): Benjamin J. Resio, Alexander S. Chiu, Jessica R. Hoag, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 1(7)
Date: 11/2018
view details
Where Are They? Examining General Surgery Workforce Issues
Describes challenges related to getting adequate data on the rural surgical workforce and what is needed to understand rural shortages.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
The Rural General Surgeon's Partner: Rural Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Describes the role that certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) play in rural surgery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Comprehensive Rural Population Health: Where is the General Surgeon?
Provides an overview of the role that general surgeons play, discusses the importance of surgical access, and describes efforts underway to attract students into the field and to train the rural surgical workforce.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Geographic Diffusion and Implementation of Acute Care Surgery: An Uneven Solution to the National Emergency General Surgery Crisis
Analyzes a survey on emergency general surgery care administered to 2,811 acute care hospitals in the U.S. in 2015. Examines the uptake of acute care surgery (ACS) by geography and further describes areas that are slow to implement ACS, which includes implications for rural communities. Includes county-level maps showing the distribution of hospitals with and without ACS and access to a hospital with ACS based on race and ethnicity and socioeconomic characteristics.
Author(s): Jasmine A. Khubchandani, Angela M. Ingraham, Vijaya T. Daniel, et al.
Citation: JAMA Surgery, 153(2), 150-159
Date: 02/2018
view details