The Pennsylvania State Data Center released their latest brief which highlights access to broadband internet over the past five years in Pennsylvania. The interactive chart also allows for analysis by age and race. Click here to read the brief, or click here to go straight to the chart.
Rural Post-Acute Care Summit Report Released
The National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center), supported by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), convened a virtual summit of key stakeholders to examine the current state of post-acute care (PAC) in rural America. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought PAC/long-term care (LTC) into the national spotlight, as a significant percentage of pandemic deaths in the U.S. are occurring in LTC and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Summit attendees explored issues, challenges, and strategies related to the integration of rural acute and PAC and considered how rural PAC can be successfully included in a population health and value-based payment future.
Focused Topics
Participants engaged in a wide-ranging discussion about current and often longstanding PAC-focused issues and challenges confronting health care organizations and communities across the rural U.S. In particular, the breakout sessions focused on four major topics, identifying both issues and potential strategies and tactical solutions to address those issues.
Identified Common PAC Challenges
- Impact of the shifting payment environment from traditional volume-driven fee-for-service and cost-based reimbursement methods to value-based payment arrangements
- Need to improve access to rural PAC and services
- Evolving role of technology, particularly the rapid expansion of telehealth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- PAC workforce challenges and opportunities
- Importance of addressing social determinants of health
This report provides a background on PAC, the Summit participants, process used at the Summit, comprehensive lists of identified strategies and tactics to address high priority rural PAC issues, a discussion on how state Flex Programs can help rural providers address PAC, and a collection of PAC best practices from the field.
New Brief Released on Internet Access in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Data Center released a new brief on access to broadband internet in the state. The report showed that subscriptions increased for the general population in Pennsylvania from 2015 (81.2%) to 2019 (89.0%). By 2019, access to broadband was comparable for those under 18 years of age and those 18 to 64 years of age (93.2% and 92.1%, respectively). Pennsylvania’s seniors, or those age 65 years and over, still had lower access to broadband in comparison (74.3%).
Click here to read to read the brief. Be sure to click the link within the brief to explore the interactive chart showing broadband internet access by age and race.
National Health Care Scorecard: Where Does Your State Rank?
Becker’s Hospital Review
An analysis of state health system performance revealed Hawaii is the top-ranked state for access to healthcare, quality of care and other key measures.
The Commonwealth Fund’s “2020 Scorecard on State Health System Performance” assessed all 50 states and the District of Columbia on 49 performance indicators grouped into four dimensions: access and affordability, prevention and treatment, potentially avoidable hospital use and cost, and healthy lives. The data used for the scorecard is from before the emergence of COVID-19. Access additional information about the performance indicators here.
The annual scorecard showed Americans are living shorter lives than they did in 2014 and are dying in greater numbers from treatable conditions. Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Kentucky and Mississippi had the biggest increase in premature death rates between 2012 and 2013 and from 2016 to 2017.
The report also found that Black Americans are twice as likely to die from treatable conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and appendicitis, as white Americans. Though these disparities were found in every state, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma reported the highest rates of premature deaths among the Black community.
The report also looked at healthcare prices. It revealed the prices commercial insurers paid for hospital inpatient care were higher than Medicare prices in every state. Because insurers often pass along higher costs to employers in the form of higher premiums and deductibles, the report concluded that healthcare prices are driving spending growth and rising consumer healthcare costs.
Oral Health Value-Based Care: The FQHC Story
The DentaQuest Partnership and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) published a new white paper, “Oral Health Value-Based Care: The Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Story.” FQHCs are remaking modern health care with an integrated oral health care approach. FQHCs and their dental programs are using telehealth and implementing value-based tools for prevention, creating better disease management, and positive patient oral health and overall health outcomes.
Report Released on Health Care Access for Rural Pennsylvanians with Disabilities
From the Pennsylvania Health Action Network and the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council
Navigating the Pennsylvania health care system is frequently challenging. Long wait lists, unexpected costs, and lack of coverage for needed services affect many health care consumers in Pennsylvania. These issues are especially acute in the rural parts of the state where many live in poverty, distances are longer, transportation infrastructure is limited, and there may be fewer options for treatment.
People with disabilities living in rural areas encounter all of these problems as well as prejudice, ignorance, and various barriers that impact their ability to access health care services, facilities, and equipment. This report features stories from people with disabilities, their family members and caregivers about barriers to health care access. We collected these stories through surveys, face-to-face meetings, phone conversations, and public listening sessions during 2019 and 2020.
The goal of this report is to document barriers, better understand the perspectives and needs of those facing them, and raise awareness of the need for improved accessibility.
The report can be accessed at https://pahealthaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rural-access-report.pdf
Report Focuses on Networks for Oral Health Integration
The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center (OHRC) produced a report that provides information about the “Networks for Oral Health Integration Within the Maternal and Child Health Safety Net” projects funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The goal of the 5-year initiative is to improve access to and utilization of comprehensive, high-quality oral health care in community health centers for target populations (i.e., pregnant women, infants and children from birth to age 40 months, children ages 6–11) at high risk for oral disease.
Penn State Releases Results of Child Care Study
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) released a Penn State University study about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state’s child care industry. The study was included in legislation that passed the General Assembly this spring as part of negotiations around allocation of federal stimulus dollars.
Prior to the health crisis, Pennsylvania had more than 7,000 licensed child care providers operating. However, as of July more than 200 of those providers indicated they plan to permanently shut their doors. Further, the study estimates that about 1,000 additional providers are at risk of closure without financial assistance.
The study and recommendations will be used by Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) to guide the distribution of $116 million in federal CARES funding for child care. The state previously released just over $100 million in federal stimulus funding specific to the Child Care Development Block Grant. The additional $116 million was secured as part of advocacy work done by the Start Strong PA and Pre-K for PA campaigns this spring.
Rural Health Research Center Finds Continued Declines in Maternity Care in Rural U.S. Counties
A new HRSA-funded University of Minnesota (UMN) study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds that rural U.S. counties continue to see declines in hospital-based obstetrics services. Updated data from 2014-2018 shows that an additional 5.7% of rural counties lost obstetric services, on top of the 52.9% of counties that already lacked them.
While UMN pointed to the ongoing trend of losing services as a concern, they also highlighted examples of rural communities successfully supporting births locally. One case study in rural Iowa identified continuity of care and specialized nursing staff as key factors that have enabled their success.
Read the study (PDF – 1.2 MB).
Study Sheds Light on Regional Differences in Infant Mortality Among Black Americans
Infant mortality rates in the USA are highest among Black Americans, yet there are considerable differences between regions of the country. Infant mortality among Blacks is highest in the Midwest and lowest in the West and Northeast. To examine the state and county-level factors that might explain these patterns, researcher Ashley Hirai of MCHB collaborated on a study published in PLOS ONE that was led by Veni Kandasamy, a former HRSA fellow now at John Hopkins University.
The study looked at many factors. When taken together, those factors explained one-third of the regional differences. Factors that “protected” Black infants—or in other words, were associated with lower infant mortality—included: being born in a state with higher levels of Black-White marriage rates (proxy for social integration); being born in a state with higher maternal and child health funding per capita; and, being born in a county with higher levels of Black household income.
To learn more, find the full article in PLOS ONE or contact Ashley Hirai.