Monitoring the rural and urban supply and distribution of clinicians who provide obstetrical (OB) services is important for identifying areas that may lack access to OB care and identifying solutions. A new brief, produced by the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho Rural Health Research Center (WWAMI), on the obstetric care workforce shortages describes the supply and geographic distribution of four types of OB care clinicians – obstetricians, advanced practice midwives, midwives (not advanced practice), and family physicians – using data from the 2019 National Plan and Provider Enumeration System and the American Board of Family Medicine. They monitor rural and urban supply and distribution of physicians who provide OB services by linking to county level Urban Influence Codes (UICs), and provide estimates of each clinician type per 100,000 women of child-bearing age (15 through 49 years), describing supply and distribution for rural versus urban counties and among rural counties, micropolitan versus non-core counties. Their findings reveal that significant disparities exist between rural and urban areas in the supply of clinicians who provide OB services, such as more rural areas without Obstetrical Service Clinicians, with less Obstetricians per 100,000 women of child bearing age, few advanced practice Midwives, etc.
New Analysis Highlights Rural and Racial Disparities in Accessing COVID-19 Testing
According to a new Surgo Foundation analysis: Nearly two-thirds (64%) of all rural counties in the United States do not have a COVID-19 testing site, leaving 20.7 million people in a ‘testing desert.’ Of the rural population without a COVID-19 testing site, 8.5 million (41% of this population, 20% of the total rural population) live in highly vulnerable areas geographically concentrated in four states: Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Arkansas. Drilling deeper, 1.27 million rural Black Americans (35% of the rural black population) live in highly vulnerable testing deserts. Compared to the average rural American, Black Americans are 1.7 times more likely to live in these areas. And rural Black Americans are 2.7 times as likely to be living in a vulnerable area with a lack of testing sites and increasing deaths, compared to the average rural American.
New Report Highlights Economic Potential of Region’s Oil & Gas Industries
The Department of Energy (DoE) released a new report titled, The Appalachian Energy and Petrochemical Renaissance: An Examination of Economic Progress and Opportunities. Drawing on ARC data, research, and investment outcomes, the report examines energy resources found in Appalachia, the opportunities/challenges that are associated with these industries, and the steps that can be taken to increase the positive economic impact from these opportunities in parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.
The report cites several ARC reports relevant to the Region’s shale and gas industry including the Status of the Appalachian Development Highway System as of September 30, 2018, the Industrial Make-Up of the Appalachian Region and An Economic Analysis of the Appalachian Coal Industry Ecosystem. The report also highlights ARC investments in the Tristate Energy and Advanced Manufacturing (TEAM) Consortium, a network of nearly 50 community colleges and educational institutions, industry representation, local economic development leaders, and investment partners from across Marcellus-Utica region providing credentialed education and training for jobs in Appalachia’s energy and manufacturing sectors as an example of successful workforce development initiatives that could be brought to scale.
“Appalachian energy resources are among the most plentiful in the world, and the region stands poised to continue its growth as an energy producer and an important contributor to the world petrochemical market,” said ARC Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas. “The critical policy priorities and strategic investments outlined in this report will be important to the continued energy independence of our nation and the economic development of the Appalachian Region.”
Read the full details here.
National Report: Prevalence of Tooth Loss Among Older Adults
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released “Prevalence of Tooth Loss Among Older Adults: United States, 2015-2018.” The data was collected using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The prevalence of complete tooth loss among adults aged 65 and over was 12.9% in 2015-2018. Complete tooth loss can diminish quality of life, limiting food choices and impeding social interaction.
Research Briefs from the Pennsylvania State Data Center
Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin
The 2019 vintage of Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin are now available from the U.S. Census Bureau. For more information on the Detailed Estimates or to download the data, click here.
Juneteenth National Freedom Day
This month’s brief focuses on trends in the Black or African American population in recognition of Juneteenth. Click here to read the full brief.
Community Paramedicine Impact Reference Guide
For those intending to research, plan, implement, evaluate, or otherwise consider community paramedicine (CP) systems, this guide from the National Rural Health Resource Center includes a compilation of cited references that describe the impact of previously implemented CP initiatives. Read more here.
Medicare COVID-19 Data Release
On Monday, June 22, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released preliminary data on COVID-19 derived from Medicare claims. Between January 1 and May 16, 2020, over 325,000 Medicare beneficiaries were diagnosed with COVID-19, and nearly 110,000 of those were hospitalized. The snapshot breaks down COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries by state; race/ethnicity; dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid; age; gender; and urban/rural areas. Read more here.
Supply and Distribution of the Primary Care Workforce in Rural America: 2019
Researchers at the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center studied county-level data to calculate provider-to-population ratios of primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants and then compared those ratios between metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core counties. Nationally, the provider-to-population ratio of family physicians is slightly higher in rural than urban areas, but the overall per capita supply of primary care providers remains substantially lower in rural areas than urban areas. Read more here.
AHRQ: Characteristics and Costs of Potentially Preventable Inpatient Stays
The Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) examines the costs of potentially preventable hospitalizations, with a comparison of metropolitan and rural hospitals. The report is part of AHRQs Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, a collection of data and analyzation tools to enable research on a broad range of health policy issues. Read more here.
New Brief: Provision of Mental Health Services by Critical Access Hospital-Based Rural Health Clinics
Residents of rural communities face longstanding access barriers to mental health (MH) services due to chronic shortages of specialty MH providers, long travel distances to services, increased likelihood of being uninsured or under-insured, limited choice of providers, and high rates of stigma. As a result, rural residents rely more heavily on primary care providers and local acute care hospitals to meet their MH needs than do urban residents. This reality highlights the importance of integrating primary care and MH services to improve access to needed care in rural communities. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) are ideally positioned to help meet rural MH needs as 60 percent manage at least one Rural Health Clinic (RHC). RHCs receive Medicare cost-based reimbursement for a defined package of services including those provided by doctoral-level clinical psychologists (CPs) and licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs).
This policy brief explores the extent to which CAH-based RHCs are employing CPs and/or LCSWs to provide MH services, describes models of MH services implemented by CAH-based RHCs, examines their successes and challenges in doing so, and provides a resource to assist CAH and RHC leaders in developing MH services. It also provides a resource for State Flex Programs to work with CAH-based RHCs in the development of MH services.