The NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis is pleased to share the final report and a series of practice briefs from the Exploring Strategies to Improve Health and Equity in Rural Communities project. These documents are the result of a one-year formative research project exploring rural strengths, cross-sector partners, cultural and historical assets, and opportunities for action to improve health and equity in rural communities. We welcome and would appreciate wide dissemination of these materials through your networks and established dissemination channels. Please let us know if we can support you in doing so.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is Excited to Release a New Rural Health Report
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is excited to release the following rural health report: A Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures and Improving Access to Care. This report highlights the work of the NQF-convened Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) workgroup regarding the best available quality measures and recommendations for improving access for the rural population.
Continue reading “The National Quality Forum (NQF) is Excited to Release a New Rural Health Report”
New Rural Innovation Profile: Community Care Integration
The Rural Health Value team recently released a new Rural Innovation Profile focused on how a rural Medicaid coordinated care organization reinvests the money it earns through achieving improvement targets to strengthen local capacity for organizations to work together and improve population health.
Continue reading “New Rural Innovation Profile: Community Care Integration”
2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates released today
Median household incomes Pennsylvania increased to $59,195 in 2017, up 2% from 2016 according to the latest estimates from U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates provide data on a variety of economic and demographic subjects for areas with populations of 65,000 or more.
Continue reading “2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates released today”
New ACS Data to be released in September
Data from the 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates will be released for all areas with populations of 65,000 or more on September 13. Click here for more information on the American Community Survey.
New Website Serves as 2020 Census Resource
Our new site, PennsylvaniaCounts2020.info, will serve as a resource for informing and updating Pennsylvanians on the upcoming 2020 Census. Click here to read more about the new site in this August’s newsletter.
New from Rural Health Value: Rural Innovation Profile
The Rural Health Value team recently released a new Rural Innovation Profile focused on how a rural healthsystem identified options to provide behavioral health services, considering community need, financial reimbursement, and provider motivation.
Continue reading “New from Rural Health Value: Rural Innovation Profile”
Homelessness in the Commonwealth
A new report from our Research Assistant Intern, Brian Summersgill, highlights trends in homelessness throughout the Commonwealth in 2017 with HUD’s Point-in-Time (PIT) counts. The data show that while Pennsylvania’s homeless population has decreased in the past five years, its rank relative to other states and Washington D.C. climbed from 10th to 7th highest. The latest point-in-time counts suggest a homeless population of just over 14,000 persons in Pennsylvania.
Insuring Rural America: Health Insurance Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Keith J. Mueller, Charlie Alfero, Andrew Coburn, Jennifer Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy McBride and Guest Author – Abigail Barker
Current U.S. policy utilizes various market-based models within Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Insurance Marketplaces to ensure access to health insurance coverage, but access is increasingly uneven and unaffordable, especially in some rural areas.
Continue reading “Insuring Rural America: Health Insurance Challenges and Opportunities”
Update: Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America 2003-2018
Authors: Abiodun Salako, MPH; Fred Ullrich, BA; Keith J. Mueller, PhD
Over the last 16 years, 1,231 independently owned rural pharmacies (16.1%) in the United States have closed. The most drastic decline occurred in the immediate period following the implementation of Medicare Part D – between 2007 and 2009. This decline has continued through 2018, although at a slower rate. Six hundred and thirty rural communities that had at least one retail (independent, chain, or franchise) pharmacy in March 2003 had no retail pharmacy in March 2018.
Click to download a copy: Update: Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America 2003-2018