Rural Health Information Hub Latest News

‘Being From A Small Town, You Think It’s Not Going To Touch Us’: Rural America Unprepared For Fast-Spreading Virus

Parts of rural America aren’t seeing the booms like in New York, D.C., and other urban areas, but cases in those parts of the country are now speeding up. Yet, more remote areas also tend to be the places that are already struggling in terms of what their health systems can bear.

Click here to see maps from the New York Times on the spread of COVID-19 in rural America.

National Labor Exchange Launches Job Resource to Support Displaced Workers during Coronavirus Pandemic

Nonprofits DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), announced the launch of NeedAJobNow.USNLx.com, a job site dedicated to providing a centralized location for displaced workers to access employment opportunities from U.S. corporations with immediate hiring needs due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Powered by the National Labor Exchange (NLx), the site houses jobs from vetted employers in all industries and provides an opportunity for Americans to return to work and gain meaningful employment.

NeedAJobNow.USNLx.com contains over 400,000 job openings and continues to grow daily. While many employers are downsizing their staff, others are significantly increasing their hiring efforts due to current demands. Through this initiative, DirectEmployers and NASWA will assist in bridging the gap between job supply and demand by offering an easy way for job seekers to gain access to current open positions and for employers to fill positions quickly and efficiently during these difficult times.

Trends in Opioids Prescribed at Discharge From Emergency Departments Among Adults: United States, 2006–2017

This report examines trends in emergency department (ED) discharge opioid prescribing for adults from 2006–2007 through 2016–2017. It provides data by selected patient and hospital characteristics and the type of opioids prescribed. Table 1 includes data on the percent of ED patients prescribed an opioid at discharge by location of patient residence for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Read more here.

The Rural Opportunity Map

This resource is a mapping and data analysis focused on rural communities. It includes a gallery of maps addressing various issues, including maps currently in beta focused on rural healthcare trends, hospital closures, and rural definitions. Find more information here.

Public Transportation: Enhanced Federal Information Sharing on Coordination Could Improve Rural Transit Services

This report details the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) efforts in improving rural public transit coordination and identifies areas for improvement. It highlights some of the challenges affecting the FTA’s ability to effectively coordinate transportation for rural and tribal areas. Read the overview here. Read the full report here: Full Report

Patients’ Experiences in CAHs: HCAHPS Results, 2018

This report provides results from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey for calendar year 2018. It summarizes reporting rates and performance among all U.S. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). It includes detailed tables that allow state-by-state comparison of response rates and overall CAH performance. Read more here.

Explore Census Data

This resource provides access to data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. It includes the American Community Survey (ACS) with socioeconomic and demographic data and the ability to narrow to rural data. Find more information here. Historical U.S. Census data is available on American Factfinder.

Comparison of Rural vs Urban Direct-to-Physician Commercial Promotion of Medications for Treating Opioid Use Disorder

This article presents results of a cross-sectional county-level study using all reported direct-to-physician pharmaceutical payments from manufacturers of opioid use disorder medications from 2014-2017, as well as demographic and economic data from 3,140 counties. It features statistics with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas. Read more here.