Rural Health
Research Gateway

Andrew F. Coburn, PhD

Maine Rural Health Research Center

Phone: 207.831.7830
Email: coburn@maine.edu

University of Southern Maine
PO Box 9300
34 Bedford Street
Portland, ME 04104-9300

Completed Projects - (27)

  • Access To and Use of Home and Community-Based Services in Rural Areas
    This study will use data from the 2010 Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) file and in-depth policy reviews and interviews in four states to examine differences in the use of institutional and home and community-based service (HCBS) use by older adults across urban and rural areas, and the policy and community factors that contribute to differences or comparability in use.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Home health, Long-term care
  • Analysis of 2004-2005 State Flex Grant Plans
    This project will analyze state Flex grant applications and related budget and work plan revisions focusing on state activities in the core Flex program areas of networks, quality improvement, and EMS.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Networking and collaboration, Quality, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Assessing Health Information Technology (HIT) Strategies to Improve Access for Rural Veterans
    Rural veterans face unique barriers to care including insufficient communication and coordination of care provided across multiple settings—both within and outside of the Veteran's Administration. To help reduce these barriers, multiple agencies within the federal government have promoted technology as an opportunity to improve access and care coordination to veterans living in remote areas. Most recently, programs in Maine, Montana and Alaska have received grants to use health information technology (HIT) to expand and integrate services—including mental health services—for rural Veterans. However, little is known about the challenges these programs face on the ground, or what conditions and program strategies may facilitate success. This study will consist of case studies of these programs in each of the three states, and will identify best practices and barriers for implementing rural HIT initiatives that could inform future strategies in this area.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Veterans
  • Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Rural Long-Term Services and Supports under the Affordable Care Act
    This project will examine strategies, models, and policy options for improving access to, and quality of, rural long-term services and supports. Through focused policy analyses, we will highlight the rural options, opportunities, and barriers of implementing the coordinated care, health home, and long-term services and supports provisions in the Affordable Care Act.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Care management, Long-term care
  • Development of State Flex Program Logic Models and Related Toolkit
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Expanding Rural Health Insurance Coverage: How Do Insurance Reform Strategies Stack Up?
    This purpose of this study is to inform policymakers about the current state of health insurance coverage in rural America, and to assess how specific reform strategies may differentially affect rural residents. Using a combination of analytic strategies, we will provide policymakers and rural health advocates with the necessary tools to develop reform strategies that meet the needs of rural residents.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health reform, Private health insurance, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Financial Impact of Mental Health Services on Rural Individuals and Families
    This project will use the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to examine the financial burden that rural residents face in seeking mental health services, compared to urban residents. Implications of financial burden for access to needed mental health services for rural residents will be assessed.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Healthcare financing, Mental and behavioral health, Private health insurance
  • Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Health Services for the Rural Near Elderly
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Health services, Private health insurance, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Health Insurance Dynamics of Uninsured Rural Families
    To better understand the dynamics of insurance coverage among rural and urban families, this study will use the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to compare family health insurance coverage among non-elderly rural and urban families.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Uninsured and underinsured
  • Health Insurance Stability Among Rural Children Following Public Coverage Expansions
    While estimates indicate that the uninsured rate among rural children has dramatically decreased since the 1997 passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), it is not clear whether or not coverage has become more stable and uninsured spells shorter. The purpose of this study is to investigate changes in insurance stability among rural and urban children following CHIP, and whether this is affected by specific state eligibility and enrollment policies or clusters of policies. Using the 1996, 2001, and 2004 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we will measure rural-urban differences in uninsured spell length and frequency, sources of coverage before and after uninsured spells, movement between sources of coverage, how these measures of stability have changed over time, and the factors that relate to greater continuity of coverage among rural children.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Medicaid and CHIP, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Healthcare Use and Access Among Rural & Urban Non-elderly Disabled Medicare Beneficiaries
    This project explored healthcare use and barriers to healthcare access among disabled Medicare beneficiaries under 65 in rural and urban areas. The study was based on quantitative analyses of the 2009-2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Disabilities, Health disparities and health equity, Medicare
  • Impact of Employment Transitions on Health Insurance Coverage of Rural Residents
    This project aims to examine rural-urban differences in the proportion of employed adults with private health insurance who experience an employment transition (defined as a change in jobs or hours worked, or no job) and the impact of that change on health insurance status.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Private health insurance
  • Measuring Rural Underinsurance
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Uninsured and underinsured
  • Measuring the Community Benefits and Impact of Critical Access Hospitals
    This project will develop, test, and implement a set of community benefits and impact indicators for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). These indicators will assist CAHs, policymakers, and rural stakeholders to understand the impact of CAHs on their communities and local health care delivery systems.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
  • National Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Tracking Project: Tracking State Policy and Program Development
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Out-of-Pocket Costs Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
    The purpose of this project is to examine out-of-pocket spending among Medicare beneficiaries, to identify whether there are rural-urban differences in out-of-pocket costs, and to explore what factors account for these differences. Should Medicare redesign occur, this study will provide important information against which to assess the possible impact of different design options on rural Medicare beneficiaries.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Disabilities, Medicare
  • Patterns of Individual Health Plan Coverage Among Rural Residents
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Private health insurance, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Prevalence and Impact of High Deductible Health Insurance Plans in Rural Areas
    This study will use national health survey data to examine whether privately insured rural residents are more likely than their urban counterparts to have plans with high deductibles. It will also assess whether high deductible health plans create health care barriers for rural residents, and if these differ from the barriers experienced by those in urban areas.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Private health insurance
  • Rates of Telemental Health Use Among Rural Medicaid Enrollees: Associations with Telehealth Policy and Mental Health Access
    This study examined telemental health use among rural and urban Medicaid beneficiaries with mental illness. The goals were to: 1) compare rates and patterns of telemental health; 2) assess how use rates are associated with state-level Medicaid telehealth policies; and 3) determine the extent to which telemental health provides access to care.
    Research center: Rural Telehealth Research Center
    Topics: Medicaid and CHIP, Mental and behavioral health, Telehealth
  • Role and Early Impact of CO-OPs in the Rural Health Insurance Marketplace
    This study will combine quantitative analysis with administrative health plan practice data with targeted case studies to examine the rural availability and pricing of CO-OP plans, and the early experiences of these plans.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Private health insurance
  • Rural Health Clinics Chartbook
    This project produced a comprehensive, descriptive chartbook detailing the characteristics and status of rural health clinics (RHCs) nationally. It also assessed the use of secondary data to construct a national set of indicators for RHCs and identify gaps in our knowledge that cannot be addressed using secondary data.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Rural Residential Care: The Implications of Federal and State Policy Changes
    This project will assess the impact on Medicaid-funded rural residential care options of new and proposed federal policy guiding state compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The extent to which rural facilities are able to comply with the proposed guidelines may affect their eligibility for funding through Home and Community-Based Services waiver programs.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Medicaid and CHIP
  • Special Study of EMS Issues
    This study will focus on state, community, and hospital level initiatives designed to build the infrastructure to support EMS service capacity and encourage the integration of these services into the rural healthcare infrastructure in the areas of quality improvement, financing, staffing, medical control, and networking and integration.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Networking and collaboration
  • State Flex Program Quality Improvement Activities
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Quality, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Urban and Rural Differences in Utilization Patterns, Risk Factors and Expenditures of the Dually Eligible Elderly and Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare
  • Use of Telehealth Services Among Rural Medicaid Enrollees: A Baseline Inventory
    The goal of this project was to generate a multi-state, baseline description of telehealth services provided to Medicaid enrollees in rural and urban settings.
    Research center: Rural Telehealth Research Center
    Topics: Medicaid and CHIP, Telehealth
  • Using Program Logic Models to Monitor the Performance of State Flex Programs
    This project will use a program logic model approach to track state program activities and develop tools that allow states to systematically monitor and manage their accomplishments in the context of Flex Program goals.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

Publications - (65)

2022

  • Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 02/2022
    Economic fluctuations and periods of distress in farming cannot be eliminated, however, their impact on communities and individuals can be mitigated. Strategies for meeting the behavioral health needs of farm families by supporting community-based services, and expanding behavioral health services in rural contexts are highlighted in this work.
  • High-Performing Rural Health System
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2022
    This document updates the RUPRI Health Panel's framework, for a high-performing rural health system, originally published in 2011. It offers a revised vision statement and updates the high-performing rural health system pillars (access, affordability, community health, and quality) and describes an underlying base of equity considerations.

2021

  • Advancing Population Health in Rural Places: Key Lessons and Policy Opportunities
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2021
    This paper advances policy discussion of population health in rural places, focusing on the role of rural healthcare organizations. Lessons from ongoing programs provide policy considerations. Medicare and Medicaid programs should prioritize staff and infrastructure development, flexibility in covered benefits, and further expansion of telehealth.
  • Characteristics and Challenges of Rural Ambulance Agencies – A Brief Review and Policy Considerations
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2021
    There are 23,272 ambulance agencies in the U.S., and 73% of those agencies report serving rural areas. This paper examines current rural ambulance agency characteristics and challenges and identifies public policy considerations designed to stabilize rural ambulance agencies.

2020

  • Acuity Differences Among Newly Admitted Older Residents in Rural and Urban Nursing Homes
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2020
    This study found newly admitted residents of rural nursing homes were more likely to have cognitive issues/problem behaviors than those in urban facilities. Yet rural facilities admitted less complex older (age 75+) residents than urban, raising questions about the rural long-term services and supports system and capacity of rural nursing homes.
  • Telehealth Use in a Rural State: A Mixed Methods Study Using Maine's All-Payer Claims Database
    Journal Article
    Rural Telehealth Research Center
    Date: 10/2020
    This study examines trends in telehealth use in Maine and identifies barriers and facilitators to its adoption. While telehealth appears to improve access to behavioral health and speech therapy services, provider shortages, lack of broadband, and restrictive Medicare and commercial coverage plans limit telehealth services use in rural areas.
  • Telebehavioral Health Use Among Rural Medicaid Beneficiaries: Relationships With Telehealth Policies
    Journal Article
    Rural Telehealth Research Center
    Date: 09/2020
    This study assesses policy levers potentially supporting sustained use of telehealth services. Among rural Medicaid fee-for-service beneficiaries with behavioral health needs, engaging patients through informed consent within provider settings that receive facility fees may facilitate improved access to telebehavioral health services.
  • Considerations for Defining Rural Places in Health Policies and Programs
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 05/2020
    Rural definitions in statute and policy are used to direct resources to underserved people. But changes in population behavior and census processes have led to concern about historic methods of defining rural. This paper identifies key questions, reviews rural definitions, and discusses options for reconsidering rural definitions.

2019

  • Rural Health Clinic Costs and Medicare Reimbursement
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2019
    We used cost report data to examine Rural Health Clinic (RHC) services costs. The findings support the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Service's conclusion that the cost-based methodology used to determine Medicare reimbursement for RHCs is outdated and RHCs subject to the reimbursement cap are paid less than their costs.
  • Long-Term Services and Supports Use Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries in Rural and Urban Areas
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 01/2019
    Analyzing the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, authors from the Maine Rural Health Research Center found that compared to their urban counterparts, rural Medicare beneficiaries had higher odds of nursing home use after controlling for beneficiary characteristics and contextual factors including nursing home bed supply.

2018

2017

  • Rural Long-Term Services and Supports: A Primer
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 11/2017
    This paper provides policymakers and other interested stakeholders a primer on the fundamentals of the rural LTSS system, rural access to and use of LTSS, and the opportunities and limitations of current federal and state LTSS policy for advancing rural health system transformation toward a high-performing rural health delivery system.
  • After Hospital Closure: Pursuing High Performance Rural Health Systems Without Inpatient Care
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 06/2017
    A new paper describing opportunities for rural communities to develop a high performance rural health system after hospital closure, including three case studies that describe real-world transitions from hospital-based locus of care to new models of care delivery in rural places.

2016

2015

  • Medicare Value-Based Payment Reform: Priorities for Transforming Rural Health Systems
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 11/2015
    As Medicare moves to value-based payment, healthcare groups are made more accountable for patient health. But the changes have been concentrated in urban areas. Policies meant to strengthen rural health systems are complicating payment and delivery system reform in rural areas. This study examines ways to include rural areas in the changes.
  • Care Coordination in Rural Communities Supporting the High Performance Rural Health System
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 06/2015
    This paper examines care coordination programs and processes that affect rural areas to discover what is happening in rural communities, how various programs and approaches are working, who benefits, and to make policy recommendations that will facilitate care coordination efforts in support of high performance rural health system development.
  • Rural Health Clinic Readiness for Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition: Preparing for the Evolving Healthcare Marketplace
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2015
    This policy brief reports findings from a survey of rural health clinics (RHC) that examined their capacity to meet the National Council for Quality Assurance patient-centered medical home requirements and discusses the implications of the findings for efforts to support RHC capacity development.

2014

  • High Deductible Health Insurance Plans in Rural Areas
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 05/2014
    Using the 2007-2010 National Health Interview Survey, this study examines rural residents' enrollment in high deductible health plans and the implications for evolving Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplaces.
  • Integrated Care Management in Rural Communities
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 05/2014
    This study reviews the opportunities and challenges reform initiatives under the Affordable Care Act present for rural communities. The study assesses four types of organizational models for delivering integrated care management. Each model has different strengths and drawbacks, weighing for and against implementation in rural areas.
  • Profile of Rural Residential Care Facilities: A Chartbook
    Chartbook
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 05/2014
    This chartbook offers information on part of the rural long-term services and supports (LTSS) continuum—the residential care facility (RCF). Survey results identify national/regional differences between rural and urban RCFs, focusing on facilities, resident and service characteristics of RCFs, and the ability to meet the LTSS needs of residents.

2013

2012

  • The Current and Future Role and Impact of Medicaid in Rural Health
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 09/2012
    This report outlines and describes the current Medicaid program and its importance to rural America. It also discusses rural implications of program expansion, including whether and how states choose to implement changes.
  • Health Care Access and Use Among the Rural Uninsured
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 08/2012
    Examines whether uninsured rural residents have different patterns of healthcare use than their urban counterparts, and the factors associated with any differences.

2011

2010

2009

  • Implementing Patient Safety Initiatives in Rural Hospitals
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 09/2009
    This article describes the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration project, whose goal was to strengthen capacity for patient safety initiatives in eight small Tennessee rural hospitals using a multi-organizational collaborative model. The demonstration identified and facilitated implementation of three patient safety interventions.
  • Health Insurance Profile Indicates Need to Expand Coverage in Rural Areas (Policy Brief)
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 07/2009
    This brief provides information on the health insurance status of rural Americans, summarized from a more detailed chartbook. Analyses are based on the 2004-05 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
  • Profile of Rural Health Insurance Coverage: A Chartbook
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 06/2009
    Analyses of persons under age 65 from the 2004-05 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey reveal a greater proportion of rural vs. urban residents who are uninsured or covered through public sources. Uninsured rates are highest among adults over age 50 in the most remote rural places.
  • Private Health Insurance in Rural Areas: Challenges and Opportunities
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 04/2009
    This brief discusses the challenges of expanding private coverage in rural areas and describes policy options to address them.
  • Rural Coverage Gaps Decline Following Public Health Insurance Expansions
    Policy Brief
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2009
    This brief uses the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to compare the health insurance coverage of rural/urban residents in 1997 and 2005 to assess how uninsured rates and sources of coverage have changed since SCHIP was enacted. The authors also discuss characteristics of the rural uninsured and the implications for health insurance reform.

2008

2007

  • The Community Impact of Critical Access Hospitals
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2007
    This policy brief discusses the findings of a project to understand the community involvement and impact of critical access hospitals and the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program).
  • Exploring the Community Impact of Critical Access Hospitals
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 01/2007
    This paper reports on a series of site visits to six diverse rural communities and critical access hospitals to assess the experiences and impact of these hospitals in responding to their community's health infrastructure needs.

2006

  • Prioritizing Patient Safety Interventions in Small Rural Hospitals
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 12/2006
    Determines if 26 patient safety practices recommended by an expert panel as relevant to rural hospitals would be validated in terms of rural relevance and implementability by administrators and quality managers. This research was supported by funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Office of Rural Health Policy.
  • Out-of-Pocket Health Spending and the Rural Underinsured
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2006
    This article estimates underinsurance rates among privately insured rural residents and the characteristics associated with rural underinsurance.
  • Creating Program Logic Models: A Toolkit for State Flex Programs
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 04/2006
    This is a tool for planning, managing, reporting on, and assessing Flex Program goals, activities, and accomplishments; assistance in identifying/defining measurable outcomes; information linking state-level Flex Program strategies to measurable outcomes; and a consistent program-reporting framework to share results internally and externally.
  • A Review of State Flex Program Plans, 2004-2005
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 03/2006
    This paper examines the objectives and project activities proposed by states in their Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program) grant applications for Fiscal Year 2004 to strengthen the rural healthcare infrastructure in their states. It highlights recent trends in state Flex Program planning, development, and implementation.
  • Rural Hospitals and Long-Term Care: the Challenges of Diversification and Integration Strategies
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 2006
    There are many contemporary challenges experienced by older rural residents and their communities in accessing and providing services. However, the issue is not in comparing rural older adults to their urban counterparts; rather, it is that rural people have unique characteristics that must be considered when planning and providing services.

2005

  • Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending and the Rural Underinsured
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 12/2005
    This paper reports the results of a study to identify whether and to what extent there are rural-urban differences in underinsured rates among the privately insured, and, where differences exist, to understand what characteristics of rural residents are related to their likelihood of being underinsured.
  • Understanding the Impacts of the Medicare Modernization Act: Concerns of Congressional Staff
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 2005
    The most efficient mechanism for research to affect policy is to provide policy makers with information on issues about which they have voiced concern. The Rural Policy Research Institute's Health Panel conducted 2 focus groups with 16 congressional staff in 2004 to identify a set of researchable questions concerning rural healthcare.

2004

  • Comparative Performance Data for Critical Access Hospitals
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Date: 2004
    Discusses the potential use of comparative performance data for critical access hospitals (CPD-CAH) to facilitate performance and quality improvement. Covers potential benefits and drawbacks of CPD-CH and identifies issues in the development and implementation of CPD-CAH.

2003

2001

2000