Telehealth

Current Projects

• Rural-Urban Differences in Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Among Pregnant Women
  This study will look at how recent trends have shaped access to treatment for pregnant women with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and will explore differences across rural and urban regions of the U.S. This project will help understand the landscape of access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) intervention and identify rural gaps in sustainable treatment infrastructure and supportive services.
  Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Substance use and treatment, Telehealth, Women
  
• Rural-Urban Differences in Prevalence and Predictors of Telehealth Use
  The project will examine rural-urban differences in the use of telehealth as well as differences in reasons for not using telehealth among the adult population as well as specifically for those with chronic conditions.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Health information technology, Healthcare access, Telehealth
  
• 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: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Diabetes, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Telehealth
  
• Strengthening Interoperability for Rural Hospitals: The Role of TEFCA
  The digital divide between rural and urban hospitals (a gap in adoption and use of robust IT tools to support care delivery) has narrowed considerably in recent years. And yet, hospitals in rural communities are still struggling with access to and routine use of interoperable health information exchange (HIE) capabilities. The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) is the federal policy solution to offering all healthcare organizations an on-ramp to interoperable HIE, particularly entities that lack other vendor-specific alternatives. This project seeks to describe rates of TEFCA participation among Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rurally located hospitals, and characterize whether and how reported barriers to interoperability vary based on TEFCA participation.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Health information technology, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Telehealth, Workforce
  
• Usual Source of Care for Rural and Urban Children in the United States
  This project will use four years (2021-2024) of data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to examine rural-urban differences in usual source of care settings and telehealth utilization among children as well as the association between usual source of care settings and telehealth use.
  Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Children and adolescents, Chronic diseases and conditions, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Health information technology, Health services, Healthcare access, Poverty, Rural statistics and demographics, Telehealth