Research Publications

Browse the full list of research publications from the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

Browse Research Products:

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Five Most Recent Publications

• Evaluating Medicare Advantage Benchmark Setting Methodology on Rural Counties
  Policy Brief
  RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Date: 01/2025
  This brief explores how the process for setting benchmark payments for Medicare Advantage plans may create different incentives across rural and urban counties.
• Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update 2024
  Policy Brief
  RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Rapid Response to Requests for Rural Data Analysis
  Date: 01/2025
  This policy brief continues RUPRI Center's annual update of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment including the changes in enrollment in types of MA plans, and health policy changes that may have had an impact.
• Geographic Disparities in Availability of Hospital-Based Cardiac Services Across the United States
  Journal Article
  University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 12/2024
  This project examined geographic disparities in the availability of essential cardiac care in counties across the United States.
• Trends in the Health Workforce Supply in the Rural U.S.
  Report
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 10/2024
  This report examines the availability of current and historical workforce data for a variety of health care professionals and provides estimates of the trends in the supply and distribution in the rural vs. urban U.S. workforce.
• An Updated Model of Rural Hospital Financial Distress
  Journal Article
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 10/2024
  In fall 2024, the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program completed a study modeling financial distress among rural hospitals, "An Updated Model of Rural Hospital Financial Distress." The model updates a 2016 version, by adding recent changes in the operating environment.