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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Technology for health and human services

Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved Communities
Summarizes responses to a Request for Information from the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee's Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force. Describes factors contributing to healthcare challenges in rural areas, including demographics, social and structural determinants of health, insurance coverage, access to care, and workforce shortages. Highlights promising models of healthcare delivery in rural areas. Includes state-by-state health equity maps.
Additional links: State and Territory Health Equity Maps, Summary
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: House Ways and Means Committee
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Pennsylvania Hospital Transitions HRSA-Funded Program to Online Services and Addresses COVID-19 Stress
Features Butler Memorial Hospital and how it adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights the switch to online delivery for a chronic disease project funded by a HRSA Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant. Also describes initiatives to address healthcare workforce stress, help patients use tablets to visit with loved ones, and distribute healthy food to the community.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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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
Type: Document
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5G Deployment: FCC Needs Comprehensive Strategic Planning to Guide Its Efforts
Provides an overview of wireless networks and the development and deployment of 5G networks. Describes challenges of expanding networks to rural and low-income communities. Discusses the potential impact of 5G deployment on the digital divide between rural and urban areas. Offers recommendations regarding performance goals and mitigating the digital divide.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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American Broadband Initiative Progress Report June 2020
Provides an overview of federal agency actions taken to increase broadband access and private-sector investments in broadband in response to the American Broadband Initiative's 2019 Milestones Report. Documents actions taken by federal agencies to promote broadband access since February 2019 across three categories: streamlining federal permitting, leveraging federal assets, and federal funding.
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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Broadband: Observations on Past and Ongoing Efforts to Expand Access and Improve Mapping Data
Reviews previous and ongoing industry and federal government investments in the deployment of broadband in the United States. Compares the availability of fixed broadband services in urban, rural, and tribal areas. Describes federal programs to expand and support broadband access, as well as proposed reforms for mapping broadband deployment data.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Embracing the Power of Show-Me ECHO Learning Communities to Transform Clinical Practice in Missouri
Describes the Show-Me ECHO project, a collaborative video and case-based healthcare education model in Missouri that facilitates professional development across the state. Describes Show-Me ECHO's role in bringing clinicians together to share and learn through practical and experiential knowledge in order to expand healthcare access in rural and underserved communities. Specifically addresses Show-Me ECHO's impacts on knowledge sharing and collaboration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Lea Brandt, Melissa Warne-Griggs, Kimberly Hoffman, Lori Popejoy, E. Rachel Mutrux
Citation: Missouri Medicine, 117(3), 216-221
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
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Finding Innovation and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Rural Health Organizations Are Adapting Their Program Strategies
Summarizes a series of virtual peer learning sessions in response to COVID-19 for current Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, Rural Health Network Development, Small Healthcare Provider Quality Improvement, and Delta States Rural Development Network program grantees. Provides an overview of common themes that emerged from the sessions. Discusses the challenges and innovations made to implement rural health and public programs across six areas: community health workers, data collection and evaluation, virtual trainings, peer support services and recovery supports, telehealth utilization, and schools.
Additional links: Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Adjusting Approaches to Data Collection and Utilization, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Peer Support and Recovery Services in a Virtual Environment, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Strategies for Supporting Community by Maintaining Work With Schools, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Taking Community Health Worker Practice Virtual, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Using Telehealth in New and Improved Ways to Meet Emerging Needs, Guide for Planning and Hosting an Effective Virtual Meeting/Training Event
Author(s): Tanisa Adimu, John Butts, Coleman Tanner, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Policy Center
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National Trends in the Safety Performance of Electronic Health Record Systems From 2009 to 2018
Evaluates safety performance of electronic health records (EHRs) to prevent potential adverse drug effects (ADEs), assesses hospital EHR safety performance for specific subcategories of potential ADEs, and examines the associations of EHR vendors with safety performance. Features statistics including characteristics of surveyed hospitals, such as hospital size and urban or rural location.
Author(s): David C. Classen, A. Jay Holmgren, Zoe Co, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(5)
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
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Broadband Connectivity and COVID-19: The FCC's Response
Describes the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) response to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically regarding internet access and network reliability. Outlines waived regulations and extended deadlines for several programs, including the Rural Health Care program.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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