The Government Accountability Office (GAO) interviewed federal and state officials and reviewed survey data from providers to learn how the use of electronic health information exchange changed since the enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act in 2009.  GAO found that the use of electronic exchange among hospitals and physicians increased in recent years but use among small and rural hospitals was lower than that of other hospitals. This finding may be because small and rural providers are less likely to have the financial and technical resources to participate in electronic exchange—such as adequate IT staff and sufficient access to broadband internet.

The study tested a care coordination model in six rural primary care sites during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from July 2020 to January 2021.  Each clinic tracked patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) as they received medication treatment from an external telemedicine provider.

We create interactive maps for the Pre-K for PA campaign each year, and the 2023 maps and fact sheets are now available.

The maps show the unmet need for high-quality, publicly funded pre-k and high-quality pre-k locations receiving public funds and eligible provider locations not yet receiving Pre-K Counts funding or not yet serving eligible preschool-age children through Child Care Works. From the mapping application, you can print statewide and county fact sheets. PPC typically can produce fact sheets at the legislative district level, but these are unavailable for 2023 due to delayed census data and redistricting effective this year.

Black women living in the least vulnerable areas of the U.S. are more likely to die or have worse birth outcomes compared to white women living in the most vulnerable areas, according to a recent study published in The Lancet. Federal data also showed that maternal mortality rates in the U.S. rose 40% in 2021, which is the highest rate in nearly 60 years. The study recommends locally informed health interventions and additional research into racism to achieve maternal health equity. Read More.

  The report from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials describes ways in which communities can use the funding to build community health worker programs.

  A program in rural Tennessee experimented by supplying local food producers with knowledge and training about how to accept payment provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  After a workshop informing farmers about the benefits of accepting SNAP, the program provided hands-on support for navigating the application process for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), the system by which low-income consumers who receive SNAP benefits can purchase food at local farmers’ markets.  See the Funding section below for a new opportunity, USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program. 

In this cohort study of 17,428 Medicaid-enrolled adults with an emergency department encounter for opioid use disorder, the buprenorphine treatment Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program (O-HQIP) pathway was associated with significantly increased prescription fills for buprenorphine within 30 days of discharge.

In this survey study of 4,691 Medicare beneficiaries, 17 percent receiving care from practices offering both video and telephone visits reported that they were personally offered telephone visits only; 43 percent of those who were personally offered both video and telephone visits chose telephone visits. Being offered and choosing telephone visits were associated with less technology access and lack of video experience; those with Hispanic ethnicity or limited English proficiency were more likely to be offered telephone visits but not more likely to choose them.

The annual ranking of health for nearly every county in the nation takes a closer look at the way health relates to opportunities people have to participate in their communities.  The analysts examined two elements of civic health: 1) civic infrastructure, which includes the spaces such as schools, parks, and libraries; and 2) civic participation, which includes the ways people engage in community life. While their research found examples of rural towns with a strong sense of community, there was more evidence that policies and practices that disconnect people from each other, from opportunity, and from the land – for example, racial segregation and legal action to terminate Tribal rights – were more often happening in rural areas.  The report devotes a lot to voting, volunteering, and responding to the Census as important examples of civic participation and provides the data to show a direct link between civic health and population health.  See Policy Updates below for recent changes brought by the 2020 Census.