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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

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 Service
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Mentorship: Solving Gaps in Care with Shared Wisdom
Discusses the role of healthcare provider mentorship in increasing healthcare quality. Highlights the MAVEN Project and the National Rural Health Association's Center for Rural Health Leadership programs.
Author(s): Angela Lutz
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Stand up and Be Counted: Representing More Rural Veterans in Research
Describes the National Institute of Health's (NIH) All of Us Research Program and efforts to increase the representation of rural veterans in the program. Discusses the rural health related goals of the program.
Author(s): Angela Lutz
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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The Role of Medical Education in Addressing Rural Physician Shortages
Discusses medical education strategies for recruiting rural physicians. Highlights grow-your-own programs, rural track programs, service orientation, and exposing rural kids to health careers.
Author(s): A. Brianna Sheppard
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Senate Finance Committee Bipartisan Medicare GME Working Group Draft Proposal Outline and Questions for Consideration
Outlines draft policy proposals regarding the Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program aimed at addressing healthcare workforce shortages. Proposals cover the distribution of Medicare GME slots to rural areas and key specialties, encouraging hospitals to train physicians in rural areas, the establishment of a Medicare GME Policy Council, GME data collection and transparency, and more. Includes questions for consideration on policies under consideration.
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
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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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For the Rural Curious: Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Rural Pharmacy Practice Elective
Discusses the impact of a rural pharmacy course offered at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy to provide students with experience related to serving rural communities struggling with provider shortages. Includes survey data on student experiences and interest in working in rural areas following graduation.
Author(s): Timothy P. Stratton
Citation: BMC Medical Education, 24, 573
Date: 05/2024
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Enduring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Access, Nutrition, and Well-Being in Rural Appalachia
Examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a rural, Appalachian community in Kentucky. Utilizes focus group data from 39 participants to analyze ongoing issues such as social isolation, cost of living, and food access. Discusses how these issues affect mental health, access to needed medications, and ability to purchase nutritious food.
Author(s): Kathryn M. Cardarelli, Emily DeWitt, Rachel Gillespie, Nathan Bandy, Heather Norman-Burgdolf
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(5), 594
Date: 05/2024
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Payment System for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities for FY 2025
Comment on an April 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule revising the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) for fiscal year 2025. Includes a discussion of rural IPF PPS payment adjustments.
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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With New EMS Quality Measures, Florida Aims to Have a National Impact on Rural Care
Features the Feasible, Actionable, Impactful and Relevant (FAIR) EMS Measurement Project, an initiative by the Florida Department of Health which developed rural-relevant EMS quality measures for use in the state and nationally.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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