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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health Disparities – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Health Disparities.

CDC Rural Health
Provides an overview of rural health concerns, access to CDC-produced reports highlighting rural health issues, and examples of resources and successful approaches to improve health in rural communities. Topics addressed include antibiotic use, arthritis, cancer, child health, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leading causes of death, diabetes, drug overdose, health behaviors, motor vehicle safety, suicide, seat belt use, vaccination, and zoonotic diseases in rural communities.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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MMWR Reports by Topic: Rural Health Disparities
A collection of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report articles focused on rural health issues.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Mapping Medicare Disparities
Provides access to county-level data and comparisons on chronic disease prevalence, Medicare spending, hospital and emergency department utilization, preventive services, and preventable hospitalizations, readmissions, and mortality rates for Medicare beneficiaries. Also offers 2018 Medicare Advantage encounter data. Includes hospital-level quality of care and cost of care data and comparisons as well as social determinants of health data for both the Medicare and non-Medicare population down to the census tract level.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Exploring Rural and Urban Mortality Differences
Offers a variety of data tables and online tools that display indicators of mortality rates by age, rurality, region, and sex to help researchers examine the impact of rurality on mortality.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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U.S. Health Map
Interactive map that provides county-level data by gender on life expectancy, mortality rates, and risk factors, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, physical activity, cancer, alcohol use, and smoking.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
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PubMed Search: Healthcare Disparities and Rural Health
Searches PubMed's collection of journal article citations on healthcare disparities and rural health published in the U.S.
Type: Literature Search
Sponsoring organization: U.S. National Library of Medicine
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National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports
Provides access to reports and data on healthcare quality and disparities information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. State View provides information on how each state compares to national healthcare quality benchmarks.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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IHS Fact Sheets
Offers information on specific healthcare topics concerning American Indians and Alaska Natives. Covers health disparities, IHS programs, health services, and more.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Indian Health Service
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State Health Facts
Contains state-level data on demographics, health status, healthcare costs and access, healthcare providers, and more. Includes individual state profiles and 50-state comparisons.
Additional links: Build a Custom State Report
Type: Database
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 4/19/2024