The coronavirus has placed tremendous financial pressure on hospitals across the country. A new report explains that hospitals are suffering from the higher costs associated with treating COVID-19 patients and acquiring personal protective equipment, while also losing revenue from elective procedures stopping, which continue to be postponed in most states. The report estimates the country’s hospitals will be forced to bear $202.6 billion in losses between March 1st to June 30th, or about $50.7 billion per month. Hospitals cannot afford to continue losing revenue, especially rural hospitals who already operated on slim or negative margins.
New Rural Health Policy Paper: Considerations for Defining Rural Places in Health Policies and Programs
RUPRI Health Panel: Keith J. Mueller, PhD; Andrew F. Coburn, PhD; Alana Knudson, PhD; Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD, MBA; A. Clinton MacKinney, MD, MS; Timothy D. McBride, PhD. Guest Authors – Erin Mobley, PhD; Fred Ullrich, BA; Abigail Barker, PhD
Rural definitions in statute and policy are used to direct resources to underserved peoples. But changes in population behavior and Census processes have led to concern about historic methods of defining rural. This paper identifies key questions; reviews rural definitions; and discusses options for reconsidering rural definitions.
Please click here to read the brief.
Potentially Avoidable Inter-facility Transfer from Veterans Health Administration Emergency Departments: A Cohort Study
This research presents a study on potentially avoidable inter-facility transfers within Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. It details patient characteristics, such as rurality of residence and age, as well as transfer location characteristics, such as number of beds and median length of stay, among other factors. Read more here.
Older Americans Act: Nutrition Services Program
This report provides an overview of the Nutrition Services Program authorized under the Older Americans Act. It describes the administration of the Nutrition Services Program, its funding, service delivery, program participation, and program evaluation. It includes brief rural references throughout. Read more here.
Factors Associated With Perceived Job Preparedness Among RNs: Results From a National Survey
This research examines perceived job preparedness by practice location, gender, and professional characteristics among practicing registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice nurses who completed a web-based national survey. The particular focus was on the probability their nursing education adequately prepared them for job. Read more here.
Extreme Poverty Counties Found Solely in Rural Areas in 2018
This article examines high and extreme poverty areas by rural and urban county designation. It includes a map showing rural high poverty and extreme poverty counties and urban high poverty counties. It discusses the geographic concentration of extreme poverty in regions with above-average populations of racial minorities, highlighting 6 counties in South Dakota with a large Native American population and 4 counties in Mississippi with historically high poverty rates among African Americans. Read more here.
A Best Practices Approach to Treating Maternal Hemorrhage
This report provides an overview of how Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, developed and implemented protocols to improve maternal hemorrhage outcomes. It discusses the impact and lessons learned from implementing the protocols as well, as future maternal health improvement goals at the medical center. Read more here.
Antibiotic Resistance: Additional Federal Actions Needed to Better Determine Magnitude and Reduce Impact
This report explores four challenges that federal agencies face in addressing antibiotic resistance. It provides eight recommendations for federal agencies to strengthen their efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. It includes references to antibiotic stewardship guidance and programs for Critical Access Hospitals throughout. Read more here. Find the full report here.
Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24–April 21, 2020
This report identifies factors that contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020. It discusses transmission due to travel, large gatherings (including a funeral in rural Georgia), high-risk workplaces such as rural meatpacking facilities, densely populated areas, and unrecognized transmission related to limited testing and asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread. Read more here.
How will the COVID-19 Recession Impact People with Disabilities in Rural America?
This fact sheet discusses ways in which rural people with disabilities are especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 recession. It analyzes data from the 2015 and 2016 Survey of Household Economics and Decision-making and the American Time Use Survey 2017-18 Leave and Job Flexibilities Module. It features statistics on numbers of people with disabilities who have emergency funds, paid sick leave, and jobs that can be done from home, with breakdowns by rural or metropolitan location. Read more here.