2008 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.

Implementation of Telepharmacy in Rural Hospitals: Potential for Improving Medication Safety (Final Report)
Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Date: 12/2008
Findings from this report describe successful telepharmacy activities being implemented in rural hospitals and analyze policy issues related to the implementation of telepharmacy projects in rural hospitals.
Health Disparities: A Rural-Urban Chartbook (Fact Sheet)
Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Date: 12/2008
This fact sheet expands the work of the National Healthcare Disparities Reports, issued annually by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, by examining potential disparities among rural populations in health, health behaviors, preventive services, and diabetes care.
What Does the Allied Health Clinical Doctorate Mean for Rural Areas (Findings Brief)
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Date: 12/2008
This findings brief examines how the transition to the doctor of physical therapy degree has affected the supply and quality of rural physical therapy care.
Eligible but Not Enrolled? Potential for Targeting Over a Half-Million Rural Medicare Beneficiaries for Enrollment in the Low-Income Subsidy Prescription Drug Program
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 12/2008
Medicare Part D low-income supplement (LIS) is designed to help low-income persons access prescription drugs with reduced premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs. Despite efforts to enroll as many eligible persons as possible, many Medicare beneficiaries are estimated to be eligible for but not enrolled in the LIS program.
Rural Adults Face Parity Problems and Other Barriers to Appropriate Mental Health Care
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 11/2008
The findings of this policy brief suggest that a multi-level approach is essential for meeting the mental health service needs of rural residents.
Medicare Physician Payment Policy and the Rural Perspective (Final Report)
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 11/2008
The RUPRI Center has examined the effects of Medicare payment changes on rural physician practice revenue. We infer that changes to practice revenue potentially affect physician decisions regarding rural practice. This report presents the results of the center's work and provides a framework for understanding this continuing policy question.
The U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates From 1988-1997
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2008
Despite continued federal and state efforts to increase the number of physicians in rural areas, disparities between the supply of rural and urban physicians persist. This paper describes the training of the rural physician workforce in the United States and examines the variations in medical school and residency production of rural physicians.
The U.S. Rural Physician Workforce: Analysis of Medical School Graduates From 1988-1997 (Final Report)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2008
This paper describes the training of the rural physician workforce in the United States and examines the variations in medical school and residency production of rural physicians.
Electronic Health Records Adoption: Rural Providers' Decision-Making Process
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 10/2008
This brief reports findings of a study that examined the decision-making process that small rural physician clinics and hospitals use as they investigate and select an electronic health record system.
Experiences of Critical Access Hospitals in the Provision of Emergency Medical Services (Policy Brief)
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 10/2008
This brief presents research conducted to better understand critical access hospitals' (CAHs') experiences in operating emergency medical service (EMS) units. The benefits and challenges that CAH providers face in operating EMS services are discussed.
The Trend Toward the Clinical Doctorate in Allied Health: Implications for Rural Communities (Final Report)
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Date: 08/2008
This final report examines how the transition to the doctor of physical therapy degree has affected the supply and quality of rural physical therapy care.
Trends in Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among Women in Rural and Urban Areas of the United States
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 08/2008
This policy brief documents the receipt of timely breast and cervical cancer screening using a rural-urban classification system and nationally representative data.
Trends in Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among Women in Rural and Urban Areas of the United States (Final Report)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 08/2008
This policy brief reports on trends in breast cancer screening practices. Participation in mammography improved nationally, but women living in rural locations remained less likely to receive the test than those living in urban settings.
Urban-to-Rural Evacuation: Planning for Rural Population Surge (Final Report)
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 08/2008
This study assessed the likelihood of urban evacuation to rural areas and provides recommendations for rural planning and response.
Impact of CAH Conversion on Hospital Finances and Mix of Inpatient Services (Final Report)
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 08/2008
This study examined Medicare Cost Report and claims data for hospitals before and after critical access hospital (CAH) conversion in order to better understand changes in hospital costs associated with CAH conversion, factors associated with any cost growth, and changes in the mix of services provided by the facility.
Rural Enrollment in Medicare Advantage Continues to Grow Rapidly in 2008, Led by Private Fee-for-Service Plans
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 08/2008
Enrollment of rural beneficiaries into Medicare Advantage (MA) plans has more than quadrupled since the inception of the MA program in 2006 and increased 35% in the last year. However, the enrollment rate in rural areas remains well below the national enrollment rate. This policy brief shows enrollment in the MA program in rural areas.
Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 07/2008
This brief focuses on rural pharmacy closure because of the potential threat such closures present to access to any local pharmacy services in a community.
Rural Emergency Department Staffing and Participation in Emergency Certification and Training Programs
Journal Article
University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
Date: 06/2008
This paper describes how rural hospitals nationally are staffing their emergency departments (EDs) and explores the participation of rural ED physicians and other healthcare professionals in selected certification and training programs that teach skills needed to provide high quality emergency care.
National Trends in the Perinatal and Infant Health of Rural American Indians (AIs) and Alaska Natives (ANs): Have the Disparities Between AI/ANs and Whites Narrowed? (Final Report)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 06/2008
This study examines whether disparities in perinatal care and birth outcomes between rural American Indians and Alaska Natives and whites diminished during a period of policy and funding changes in maternal/child health.
Health Disparities: A Rural-Urban Chartbook (Full Report)
Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Date: 06/2008
This chartbook expands the work of the National Healthcare Disparities Reports, issued annually by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, by examining potential disparities among rural populations in health, health behaviors, preventive services, and diabetes care.
Financing Rural Public Health Activities in Prevention and Health Promotion (Final Report)
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 06/2008
This is the final report of a study to determine whether the flow of federal resources, from federal agencies, through states, and to communities, is influenced by state- and local-level public health infrastructure.
Rural Public Health Financing: The Relationship Between Infrastructure and Local Program Funding
Policy Brief
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 06/2008
This study's purpose was to describe how federal funds for selected chronic disease prevention and health promotion activities are distributed to local health departments and non-governmental organizations at the local level and to identify infrastructure-related barriers that rural agencies may face in securing and using funds for such purposes.
National Trends in the Perinatal and Infant Health of Rural American Indians (AIs) and Alaska Natives (ANs): Have the Disparities Between AI/ANs and Whites Narrowed?
Policy Brief
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 06/2008
This policy brief provides an overview of findings from a study examining trends in prenatal care receipt, low-birthweight rates, neonatal and postneonatal death rates, and cause of death among rural American Indians/Alaska Natives and whites between 1985 and 1997.
Access to Specialty Health Care for Rural American Indians in Two States
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 06/2008
Examines access to specialty services among rural Indian populations in Montana and New Mexico, based on a survey sent to primary care providers addressing access to specialty physicians, perceived barriers to access, and access to nonphysician clinical services.
Far From the City: Community Orientation and Responsiveness of Rural Hospitals
Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Date: 05/2008
This policy brief reports the findings of a national study focused on variation in hospital community orientation and responsiveness across differing rural contexts.
Issues in Staffing Emergency Medical Services: A National Survey of Local Rural and Urban EMS Directors
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Date: 05/2008
This report explores rural-urban differences in medical oversight and the recruitment and retention of emergency medical technicians and paramedics as reported by a survey of 1,425 local emergency medical services directors.
Challenges for Rural Emergency Medical Services: Medical Oversight
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Date: 05/2008
This findings brief examines the challenges faced by local rural emergency medical services (EMS) agencies in obtaining medical directors and ensuring medical oversight for EMS personnel and also describes how the challenges faced in rural areas differ from those in urban ones.
Rural-Urban Differences in Characteristics of Local EMS Agencies
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Date: 05/2008
This findings brief describes the general characteristics of local rural emergency medical services agencies and important ways they differ from agencies in urban areas.
Prevalence of Evidence-Based Safe Medication Practices in Small Rural Hospitals
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 04/2008
This issue brief presents the findings of a national survey whose purpose was to describe the prevalence of evidence-based, safe medication practices, including the use of voluntary medication error reporting, in the nation's smallest hospitals.
Rural-Urban Differences in Work Patterns Among Adults With Depressive Symptoms
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 03/2008
This study addresses poor mental health among young to middle-career rural residents and how their employment may be affected. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors investigate how depressive symptoms affect employment patterns and the extent to which such effects differ by rural and urban residence.
Chartbook: Dental Health and Access to Care Among Rural Children: A National and State Portrait (Full Report)
Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Date: 03/2008
This chartbook examines dental health status, use of preventive services, and dental insurance among rural and urban children. It provides information specific to rural children, and in particular rural minority children, not available in similar detail from other sources.
Critical Access Hospitals' Experience With Medicare Advantage Plans
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 03/2008
This report details findings from a survey of 60 critical access hospital (CAH) administrators regarding their experiences with Medicare Advantage plans.
Distribution of Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities Across the Rural - Urban Continuum (Research & Policy Brief)
Policy Brief
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2008
This research and policy brief highlights findings from a recent study examining the distribution of substance abuse treatment facilities in rural and urban counties and identifying the type and intensity of services provided.
Poor Birth Outcome in the Rural United States: 1985-1987 to 1995-1997 (Project Summary)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2008
Rates of low birthweight, poor outcomes, and inadequate prenatal care among urban and rural areas were evaluated and compared from 1985-1997 using data from the Linked Birth-Death Data Set.
Poor Birth Outcome in the Rural United States: 1985-1987 to 1995-1997 (Final Report)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2008
Rates of low birthweight, poor outcomes, and inadequate prenatal care among urban and rural areas were evaluated and compared from 1985-1997 using data from the Linked Birth-Death Data Set.
Access to Cancer Services for Rural Colorectal Cancer Patients
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 2008
Includes findings from a study to determine how far rural and urban colorectal cancer (CRC) patients travel to three types of specialty cancer care services-surgery, medical oncology consultation, and radiation oncology consultation.