Rural Healthcare

Top Patient Engagement Challenges Affecting Rural Healthcare

February 29, 2024 - In a challenging industry landscape like medicine, the topic of rural healthcare stands out for its complexity. Those complexities can affect patient engagement efforts, in particular, and can stymie provider efforts to support care management. What’s resulted is a rural-urban divide in healthcare outcomes. Indeed, a July 2023 analysis from The Commonwealth Fund found that the...


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How Family Physicians Can Solve US Maternal Health Problems

by Sara Heath

It’s not a secret that healthcare is staring down a maternal mortality problem. But what might be less known is the critical role family physicians can play in ameliorating it. “This country has a lot of work to do on...

Care Quality from EMS & 911 Left Wanting, Rural Disparities Emerge

by Sara Heath

The quality of care you get when you call 911 might depend on where you live, with a new analysis of emergency medical service (EMS) systems showing geographic health disparities in clinical...

55% of Rural Orgs Lack Labor & Delivery, Cause Maternity Deserts

by Sara Heath

Maternity deserts are a growing problem in the United States, especially for rural hospitals that have to shutter labor and delivery departments at higher rates than their urban counterparts, according...

Maternity Deserts, Low Access to Care Affect 5.6M Birthing People

by Sara Heath

A whopping 5.6 million birthing people are finding themselves without access to maternity care as the prevalence of maternity deserts continues to grow, according to reports from March of Dimes. These...

US Has Worst Geographic Health Disparities in Developed World

by Sara Heath

The United States is home to the biggest geographic health disparities in the developed world, with researchers supported by the Commonwealth Fund finding significant outcomes differences falling along...

HHS Pledges $2.5M to Produce Prescription Programs for Food Insecurity

by Sarai Rodriguez

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with the Indian Health Service (IHS), has slated $2.5 million to support the development of produce prescription, a growing approach to...

US Approach to Primary Care Access Struggles Is Disjointed

by Sara Heath

A new report from FAIR Health indicates that the United States is taking a patchwork approach to patient access to care and primary care, with the data showing variable reliance on advanced practice...

Mental Healthcare Access for Rural Veterans Lower Than Urban Areas

by Sara Heath

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) study sheds light on the geographic health disparities in mental healthcare access for veterans, prompting calls for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)...

Poor Health Payer Coverage Fuels Rural Maternal Health Disparities

by Sarai Rodriguez

In rural America, pregnant people experience substantial health inequities, putting them at risk for maternal morbidity and mortality. New data from Michigan Medicine suggests...

Native Americans Face Severe Geographic Barriers to Cancer Care Access

by Sarai Rodriguez

Disproportionate geographic barriers to cancer care access beleaguer Native Americans, a study led by Washington State University researchers has found. The study, published in the journal Value...

Geisinger’s Holistic Maternal Care Model Improves Healthcare Experience

by Sara Heath

Over the past century, the maternal care model has grown to be somewhat standardized from patient to patient. A birthing person becomes pregnant and has periodic visits with her OBGYN, and once the baby is born, the healthcare experience...

How Rurality, Social Determinants of Health Affect Care Access

by Sara Heath

Having an address in a rural area could mean a patient needs more than just better access to care. According to new research out of the Mayo Clinic, it could also mean that patient experiences the...

Travel Times Still a Challenge for Rural Health, Access Disparities

by Sara Heath

Women with breast cancer living in rural areas can travel up to 2,000 miles over the course of their treatment, according to research out of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health,...

Strategies for Rural Patient Healthcare Access Challenges

by Sara Heath

Amidst the sweeping plains and endless farmland of rural America, residents face a pressing and pervasive problem. With providers so few and far between, patients face considerable difficulty accessing healthcare. According to a leading...