Topics: Service delivery models

Diagnosing the Rural COPD Patient: Ask About Symptoms, Use Spirometry

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute calculates that 3.5 million rural Americans have COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s also estimated that hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have the condition and don’t know it. Though it is a condition without a cure, it is a condition with hope. The COPD Foundation’s Chief Science Officer and a State Captain share how asking questions and doing spirometry can help diagnose the condition.

Chronic obstructive lung disease, or COPD, is a disease with a stronghold in rural America: almost double the prevalence and double the mortality rates compared to large urban areas. Though it is a condition with no cure, it’s a condition that has treatments — and hope — making proper diagnosis by spirometry imperative.

Translational science is a specialized research field bringing cutting-edge science to patients that need it. Making sure rural communities are also recipients of new research, the National Center for Advancing Translational Science is a federal agency that facilitates the steps and supports the investigators who want their findings to translate into better health.

To address rising ER readmissions, an Arizona healthcare system and network partners adapted an unconventional EMS telehealth service to help rural patients. Coupled with care coordination, mobile telehealth units are saving the healthcare system money while better meeting patients’ healthcare needs.

The Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) is using federal funding to support a project that, to date, has linked 18 rural schools with 10 local provider organizations, delivering school-based telehealth to hundreds of the state’s rural students. “Virtual telehealth librarians” from another federally-funded IRHA project, provided technical assistance.

A “virtual telehealth librarian” describes the range of technical assistance provided by the federally-funded regional and national telehealth resource centers.

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of death for American Indian and Alaskan Native populations. In this article, a cancer researcher, foundation director, and medical professional share their models that engage these populations in cancer research, prevention, and treatment.

An Alabama nonprofit organization and a North Carolina rural health district share how they leverage public funding for quality improvement and rural network development activities that provide unique patient education opportunities for chronic disease prevention and self-management.

Rural Americans of all ages often go without eye healthcare, a gap that has obvious consequences: blindness and low vision. National associations and an FQHC administrator talk about how rural vision care can be improved to increase quality of life and prevent disability in rural patients.

Teleophthalmology has an established track record. Two ophthalmologists talk about present and future realities for remote eye care technology.

The Rural Monitor

Articles and resources on key rural health issues, from the Rural Health Information Hub

Topics: Service delivery models

Diagnosing the Rural COPD Patient: Ask About Symptoms, Use Spirometry

Office-Based Spirometry: Key to Diagnosing Rural COPD Patients

Translational Science: Research with Results that Touch Rural Populations

Mobile Telehealth Units and Care Coordinators Improve Emergency Care Services for Rural Arizona Patients

The Power of Three: Rural Schools, Healthcare Providers, and a Rural Health Association Collaborate to Expand Primary Care Access Using School-Based Telehealth

Virtual Telehealth Librarians: A Closer Look at a Regional Telehealth Resource Center’s Technical Assistance

Reducing Cancer Among Native Populations: Models for Research, Prevention, and Treatment

Rural Patients with Chronic Disease: A Nonprofit Organization and a Health Department Leverage Federal Funding to Provide Health Education and Care Coordination

Eye Health Needs: Preserving the Eyesight of Rural and Underserved Populations

Teleophthalmology: Ophthalmologists Talk Remote Eye Care Solutions