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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Innovating Mental Healthcare in Texas and Beyond: Q&A with Dr. Octavio Martinez
An interview with Dr. Octavio Martinez, the executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. Discusses the mission of the foundation and how it is addressing mental health in Texas, as well as some of the challenges of providing mental healthcare in Texas and throughout the U.S.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rides to Wellness Community Scan Project
Presents a national project report on the impact of transportation barriers on healthcare costs as well as highlighting existing patient-centered transportation solutions. Summarizes the results of a national survey of health centers and private providers regarding transportation, as well as several profiles of communities, both rural and urban, regarding the transportation barriers and solutions within them.
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Health Outreach Partners
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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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Online Screening Helps Michigan Men Gauge Mental Health
Features the Healthy Men Michigan campaign, which uses an anonymous online survey to evaluate the risk of depression and suicide among men in the state. Focuses on working-age Michigan men and on reaching those in male-dominated industries, using mental health messaging targeted to this audience.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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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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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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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2017
Includes chapters on implementing a unified payment system for post-acute care, Part B drug payment policies, the redesign of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and other alternative payment models, drug and device manufacturer payments to physicians and teaching hospitals, stand-alone emergency departments, and skilled nursing facility use. Rural hospitals and rural patient populations are discussed throughout the report.
Date: 06/2017
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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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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