Rural Health
Research Gateway

Health services

Current Projects

  • A Closer Examination of Rural Hospital Bypass
    This project will estimate the rural hospital bypass rate using all-payer claims data for a set of states and compare patients based on the inpatient treatments and procedures received relative to those routinely provided by rural facilities.
    Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Health reform, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Minority health, Private health insurance, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Access to and Provision of Child and Youth Behavioral Health Services in the Rural and Urban U.S.
    The need for behavioral health treatment for youth has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the availability of youth behavioral health providers in rural areas. This study will investigate who provides behavioral health services to youth, how equitably the workforce is distributed, and gaps in service availability.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Children and adolescents, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Workforce
  • Availability of Diabetes Self-Management Education in High Need Rural Counties
    This project will examine the degree to which counties with a high need for diabetes education, defined by high diabetes prevalence, have such education available. Findings will be linked to a related study that will examine the availability of dialysis for end stage renal disease, a severe outcome of poorly addressed diabetes.
    Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Topics: Diabetes, Health services
  • Availability, Care Practices, and Quality of Hospice Providers Serving Rural versus Urban Communities
    This project will examine differences in availability of hospice care in rural versus urban communities as well as provider-level quality and care practices by rural-urban status of hospices. Findings will highlight potential rural-urban disparities in hospice care that can be used to inform future Medicare policy.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospice and palliative care, Medicare, Quality
  • Building the Rural Evidence Base: Examining the Feasibility of Implementing Pilot Programs and Demonstrations in Rural Communities
    Evidence-based interventions are commonly developed in populated, urban centers and then adapted for rural communities. This project will investigate the benefits of piloting and evaluating interventions in rural areas to build the rural evidence base as a step in addressing health disparities and improving health conditions in rural communities.
    Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services
  • Challenges, Successes, and Sustainability of the 2019 Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Programs
    This mixed-methods study aims to understand awardees' experiences in building and maintaining cohesive networks for Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS).
    Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Maternal health, Minority health, Networking and collaboration, Telehealth, Women
  • Changes in Buprenorphine Prescribing Following the Elimination of the Drug Enforcement Administration X Waiver Requirement
    The Drug Enforcement Administration requirement for an X waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder was lifted in January 2023. This study aims to describe if and how this policy change has impacted the prescribing practices of clinicians and medication treatment access for patients with opioid use disorder.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Legislation and regulation, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Workforce
  • Changes in Medicare Fee-for-Services Health Care Expenditures in Rural and Urban Communities after Passage of the Affordable Care Act
    This project will assess changes in Medicare per-beneficiary spending across rural and urban counties from 2007 to 2020. It will examine differences in rural versus urban per-beneficiary spending on hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician, and post-acute care after the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
    Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Topics: Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Hospitals and clinics, Public health
  • Comparing Utilization and Quality of Home Health Care Between Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries by Rural-Urban Status
    This project examines differences in home health use and quality by enrollment in Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) versus Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Findings will include information on rural-urban and intra-rural variation in home health care to inform policies on access, payment, and quality for Medicare FFS and MA plans.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Allied health professionals, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Home health, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Post-acute care, Quality
  • Concordance Between Social Needs Screening Provision, Programming, and Partnerships in Rural PPS Hospitals
    This study will examine how rural Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals differ from urban hospitals concerning social needs screening practices and alignment between social needs screening performance and corresponding programs/strategies and/or community partnerships to address social needs.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health services, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Networking and collaboration, Social determinants of health
  • Dentist Supply, Dental Care Utilization, and Oral Health Among Rural and Urban U.S. Residents: Exploring Changes in the Past 15 Years
    This project will describe the national supply of the rural and urban dental workforce and investigate whether rural adults, compared to urban adults, report lower dental care utilization, higher prevalence of dental disease or both. This study will also look at whether disparities in oral health care and supply have changed over the past 15 years.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Oral health, Workforce
  • Disparities in Mental Health Services Access: the Intersectionality of Residence Rurality, Race, and Ethnicity
    In 2021, approximately 8.6 million rural adults faced mental health challenges while millions of rural adolescents battled major depressive episodes. This study examines disparities in mental health services uptake and variation in mental health care settings across racial-ethnic and rural-urban subpopulations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health
  • Disparities in Screening, Prevention, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Rural and Urban Primary Care
    This study will use a large national primary care registry to compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) screening, prevention, and management quality measures between rural and urban primary care practices. It will also assess for disparities by patient composition (race/ethnicity, insurance) of the practice.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Minority health, Physicians, Quality
  • Examining the Potential Impact of Multiple Payment Policies on Rural Versus Urban Home Health Agencies
    This study estimates the impact of three recent and upcoming Medicare home health payment policies (revised rural add-on payments, new prospective payment system, and value-based purchasing demonstration) on reimbursement for home health agencies based on rural-urban status, community factors, and home health agency characteristics.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Home health, Medicare, Post-acute care
  • Following the Money: Do Block Grant Resources Reach Rural Communities?
    This project will apply a mixed methods design to describe the distribution of block grant resources from federal agencies through states to the local level in rural and non-rural communities in the United States. Findings could guide federal agencies and policy makers to develop strategies to more effectively target block grant resources to ensure that the needs of vulnerable rural populations are addressed.
    Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Public health, Rural statistics and demographics
  • Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) Risk Scores: Designed to Predict Future Cost and Health Care Resource Use – Do They Also Accurately Reflect Differences in Health Status between Rural and Urban Beneficiaries?
    This CMS Hierarchical Condition Category (CMS-HCC) risk score study will investigate differences in underlying health between rural and urban populations using recent data and analyze which factors drive observed differences.
    Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  • How Does Participation in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations Affect Rural Hospital Financial Outcomes?
    This project will examine the impact of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations' (ACOs') participation on rural hospitals' financial outcomes. Findings from this project will provide policy-relevant information on how ACO participation affects rural hospitals' financial bottom lines, contributing to further program design.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Care management, Health reform, Health services, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare
  • Identifying and Exploring the Settings That Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Are Practicing in as Well as Trends in Specialization in These Groups
    Investigators will conduct a descriptive study to assess trends in specialty and population foci of nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistants (PA). They will also explore changes in the number of clinician types billing for procedures. Trends will be assessed by census region to inform FORHP on areas for which use of NPs and PAs can be bolstered.
    Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants
  • Medical and Mental Health Service Provision Amongst Rural Health Clinics
    This study will provide a descriptive analysis of differences in Rural Health Clinic (RHC) type, clinic size, and geographic location of RHCs providing same day medical and mental health visits, compared to RHCs that are only providing one or the other type of visits on the same day.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Mental and behavioral health, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Non-Metropolitan/Metropolitan Differences in Barriers to Care and Utilization of Preventive Care and Wellness Visits Among Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage
    This project proposes to use the Medicare Current Beneficiaries Survey to examine differences across geography and plan type (Medicare Advantage vs. traditional) with regards to barriers to care (e.g., costs) and use of preventive services (e.g., flu shot).
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  • Palliative Care in the Rural U.S.
    This project will describe the availability of palliative care services in rural hospitals and community settings using data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, interviews with palliative care providers, and a survey of rural hospitals without palliative care services.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospice and palliative care, Hospitals and clinics
  • Risky Behaviors and Overdose Deaths Related to Illicit Drug Use
    Using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, this study will investigate rural vs. urban variations in treatment utilization for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and, separately, drug use disorder (DUD). It will yield prevalence estimates of any treatment receipt and sources of treatment among persons with past year AUD and DUD as well as the receipt of medication therapy among those treatable with medications.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Substance use and treatment
  • Rural Access to Opioid Treatment Program Clinics and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
    This project will identify all Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics and Opioid Treatment Program Clinics in the U.S. and then present the number of rural and urban clinics in each state as frequency tables and map visualizations.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Substance use and treatment
  • Rural and Urban Cancer Survivors' Follow-Up Care Experiences
    This project examines rural vs. urban differences in cancer survivors' follow-up care experiences using the 2017 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Cancer, Care management, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Post-acute care, Quality
  • Rural Poverty and Health: A Chartbook
    This chartbook will use nationally representative surveys and county-level data to provide a comprehensive overview of the health and wellbeing of rural Americans living in poverty.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Poverty, Rural statistics and demographics
  • Rural-Urban Differences in Addressable Drivers of Staff Turnover in Skilled Nursing Facilities
    The aim of the proposed study is to assess facility-level turnover rates for total nursing and registered nursing personnel across levels of rurality and by region looking at factors such as staffing ratios that can be managed by facility administrators.
    Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Hospitals and clinics, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Public health, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Workforce
  • Rural-Urban Differences in Medicare Advantage Plan Quality Scores
    This project updates previous RUPRI Center publications focused on rural-urban differences in access to, and enrollment in, Medicare Advantage plans with four- and five-star quality ratings.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  • Rural/Urban Differences in Forgoing Health Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic
    Several surveys conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that adults delayed or skipped healthcare services during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines changes in healthcare utilization for primary and preventative care among rural and urban Medicare fee-for-service enrollees since the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Diabetes, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Minority health, Telehealth
  • Rural/Urban Variations in Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    Using the National Cancer Institute Health Information National Trends Survey, we will examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the receipt of recommended screenings for common cancers. Findings will inform policymakers about potential widening of rural/urban disparities in the receipt of cancer preventive services and the potential need to target these services toward rural residents.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Cancer, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Healthcare access
  • Specialist Physicians in the Rural and Urban U.S.: Supply, Distribution, and Access
    This project will describe the geographic distribution (rural/urban, regional, and intra-rural) of specialist physicians who care for patients experiencing conditions that account for the top four leading causes of rural mortality. It will also explore how patients in rural communities that lack these specialists obtain needed care.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Cancer, Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Frontier health, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Social determinants of health, Telehealth, Workforce
  • The Impact of Rural Surgery Training on General Surgeon Supply in Rural Communities
    A growing number of general surgery programs offer rural training that aims to address the dwindling supply of rural surgeons. This study aims to describe program models for providing rural general surgery training; quantify the availability of programs; and compare the models' effectiveness in producing rural surgeons.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Workforce
  • Treatment, Provider, and Cost Differences for Rural and Urban Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Across the U.S.
    This study describes and compares the treatment that rural and urban patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive, documenting the workforce providing care, distance that patients travel to receive care, and cost of care. Findings will inform policies to ensure that rural patients with OUD have access to care from local healthcare providers.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Telehealth
  • Treatment, Provider, and Cost Differences for Rural and Urban Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Medicaid Insurance Across the U.S.
    This project will analyze Medicaid claims data to compare the treatment that rural and urban patients with opioid use disorder receive, documenting the workforce providing care, the distance that patients travel to receive care, and the cost of care. Findings from this study can be used to improve policies regarding opioid use disorder treatment.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Legislation and regulation, Medicaid and CHIP, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Telehealth, Workforce
  • Understanding Rural Health Clinic Services, Use, and Reimbursement
    This study describes the scope and intensity of services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by independent and provider-based Rural Health Clinics. It will also assess the adequacy of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' changes to the outpatient evaluation and management codes in 2021 compared to the 2021 per-visit reimbursement cap.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Understanding Rural Non-Emergent Emergency Department Use
    Research shows rural residents use emergency departments (ED) at higher rates than urban residents. Other studies suggest rural residents are more likely to visit the ED for a non-emergent reasons. This study uses the 2014-17 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to analyze factors associated with rural versus urban residents' non-emergent use of EDs.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics
  • Use of Home and Community Based Services by Medicare Beneficiaries
    Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we will examine rural-urban differences in the need for long term services and supports, rates of home and community-based services (HCBS) use, the use of different types of HCBS, and the impact of HCBS on subsequent use of emergent services such as hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Health services, Home health, Long-term care, Medicare
  • Use of Z Codes by Rural and Urban Providers to Capture Data on the Social Determinants of Health Impacting Medicare Beneficiaries
    Using a mixed methods approach, we will examine the use of Z codes by rural and urban providers to better capture information on the social determinants of health experienced by Medicare beneficiaries across the rural continuum.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Medicare, Physicians, Social determinants of health