An interactive map from the National Academy for State Health Policy links to available contracts with Medicaid-managed care organizations showing how each state determines an adequate network of providers and accessibility of services, including through telemedicine.

This chartbook from the Maine Rural Health Research Center provides an overview of Rural Health Clinic (RHC) characteristics and issues and will be useful to policymakers and others interested in the performance of RHCs nationally.

Last week, HRSA and leaders across the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services issued a joint letter to states, tribes, and jurisdictions encouraging them to maximize their efforts to strengthen children’s mental health and well-being. Earlier in the month, our Maternal and Child Health Bureau launched a new, toll-free hotline for expecting and new moms experiencing mental health challenges.  The Office for the Advancement of Telehealth convened its first National Telehealth Conference.  See all News & Announcements on HRSA.gov

The most recent Census count revealed that, between 2010 and 2020, the rural population declined to just 14 percent of the U.S. total, the smallest percentage of the population to reside in rural areas in U.S. history.  At the same time, racial diversity increased with Hispanics representing 9 percent of the rural population, followed by non-Hispanic Black people, representing 7.7 percent.  Nearly one-third of all rural children (32.5 percent) come from racial or ethnic minority populations, compared to 28.1 percent in 2010.  More about these changes can be found in the report from the University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy.

A collaborative community process to define a town by what it offers the people who live there is the short way to describe the work of placemaking.  This digital toolkit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Kentucky’s Community and Economic Development Initiative includes examples of rural placemaking projects along with technical assistance providers, funders, and guides to resources.

  HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) issued new information for applicants for this funding opportunity. Through the Community Health Worker Training Program, HRSA will provide funding to health professions schools, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and community-based organizations to train 13,000 community health workers for underserved communities.  See BHW’s website for more help with applications due on June 14.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently released a final recommendation statement on screening for primary open-angle glaucoma. The Task Force concluded that more research is needed on screening for people who have not reported concerns with their vision. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, and a summary for clinicians, please go here. The final recommendation statement can also be found in the May 24, 2022, online issue of JAMA.

The Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition has released its new Immunization Champions Back-to- School Toolkit. This toolkit is to provide information to increase routine childhood and adolescent vaccination rates in Pennsylvania and protect against vaccine-preventable diseases.

A new Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) handbook, A Handbook for Health IT Advisors and Practice Facilitators, provides practical information and strategies for primary care practice coaches to support improved care by helping practices effectively use health information technology (IT). It covers essential information and techniques to help primary care practices use electronic health records and other health IT for quality improvement (QI). This resource features information on clinical decision support, patient portals, and other technologies, using patient-generated data, clinical quality measures, and risk stratification in primary care. The handbook includes helpful tips, examples, and use cases to support the use of health IT for QI efforts and is a complimentary resource to AHRQ’s Primary Care Practice Facilitation Curriculum and training modules.

A newly developed document on the Health Center Resource Clearinghouse—the consolidated website for resources for health centers developed by HRSA’s National Training & Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs)—contains patient instructions for using at-home QuickVue COVID-19 tests that are being distributed at health centers. Instructions contain text and graphics and cover both sides of a single sheet. Health centers can use these documents as handouts when distributing the kits or send them to patients as PDFs via text or email. This resource is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Burmese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Dari, Hindi, Ilokano, Ka\’Ren, Laotian, Nepali, Pashto, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, and Urdu.