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Rural Health Information Hub

Healthcare Access in Rural Communities – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Healthcare Access in Rural Communities.

Rural Health Research Recap: Rural Obstetric Services: Access, Workforce, and Impact
Summarizes recent research by Rural Health Research Centers on access to obstetrics (OB) care in rural areas, the rural OB workforce, and the impact of limited OB access for rural counties. Includes a map showing hospital OB services in rural counties, where they have closed from 2004-2014, and a chart with the percent of clinicians by type attending deliveries in rural hospitals.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Rural Health Research Recap: State of Rural Women's Healthcare Utilization and Health Indicators
Summarizes rural and urban statistics describing health indicators and healthcare utilization for women, maternal and obstetric healthcare services, and maternal substance use. Includes information regarding barriers to accessing care.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Preventive Health Service Use among Rural Women
A study of national data to understand whether health status and sociodemographic characteristics explain the differences in use of preventive services among women in rural and urban areas from 2014-2016. Features statistics including receipt of various services, health status indicators, sociodemographic characteristics, and predictions of women's health service receipt, with breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Jennifer Lenardson, Nathan Paluso, Jaclyn Janis
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Health Insurance in Rural America
A set of interactive graphics providing urban and rural uninsured rates for people under age 65, based on data from the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates. Includes county-level data for 2017 and the change since 2013.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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HRSA Maternal Mortality Summit: Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes Technical Report
Compiles key findings from a three-day summit, Promising Global Practices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes, that includes reports, presentations, discussion, and other resources to improve maternal health outcomes from experts in the field. Provides an overview of maternal health, morbidity, and mortality in the United States. Covers the limited access to obstetric healthcare services women living in rural areas face.
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Increasing Access to Contraception: Rural Health
Offers strategies and best practices to address identified challenges and barriers to increasing access to contraception and related healthcare services in rural areas.
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Rural Report: Challenges Facing Rural Communities and the Roadmap to Ensure Local Access to High-Quality, Affordable Care
Reports on continuing, current, and emerging challenges for rural hospitals working to provide access to healthcare services in rural communities. Includes discussion on policy recommendations to improve access and covers new models of care, reimbursement policies, regulatory requirements, telehealth, workforce issues, and prescription drug costs.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Infographic
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Access to Care: Health Centers and Providers in Underserved Communities
Recording of a January 29, 2019, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the importance of community health centers and National Health Service Corps providers in helping to address issues of access to primary care for rural and urban underserved communities.
Additional links: Andrea Anderson Testimony, Dennis Freeman, Cherokee Health Systems Testimony, John B. Waits, Cahaba Medical Care FQHC Testimony
Date: 01/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Access to Rural Maternity Care
Policy paper describing obstetric care for rural women in the U.S. Covers challenges to providing access to rural maternity care, such as healthcare quality, birth outcomes, workforce shortages, access, and financial challenges. Includes discussion on policy alternatives and considerations to address workforce issues, barriers to practicing obstetrics in rural areas, and increasing access to maternity care services.
Author(s): Britta Anderson, Adam Gingery, Maeve McClellan, et al.
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Eye Health Needs: Preserving the Eyesight of Rural and Underserved Populations
Explains the importance of vision care in health and describes how rural vision care can be improved to increase quality of life and prevent disability in rural patients. Features a rural Federally Qualified Health Center that has added eye care to its services and a vision van that provides care in underserved communities.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Last Updated: 1/11/2024