- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
- Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation of the Medicare Program (Executive Order 14192) - Request for Information
- Dr. Mehmet Oz Shares Vision for CMS
- CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership
- Social Factors Help Explain Worse Cardiovascular Health among Adults in Rural Vs. Urban Communities
- Reducing Barriers to Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models and Supporting Primary and Specialty Care Transformation: Request for Input
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule
- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
Updated: Most Aggressive States Against the Coronavirus – WalletHub Study
With nearly all of the 50 states in some form of lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19, WalletHub today released updated rankings for the Most Aggressive States Against the Coronavirus, as well as accompanying videos.
To identify which states are taking the most aggressive actions to combat coronavirus, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 51 key metrics. The data set ranges from tested cases of COVID-19 per capita to school closures, ICU beds, and shelter-in-place policies. Below, you can see highlights from WalletHub’s report, along with a summary of the largest changes in rank from our previous report and a Q&A with WalletHub analysts.
States with Most Aggressive Measures |
States with Least Aggressive Measures |
1. New York | 42. Texas |
2. District of Columbia | 43. Utah |
3. Alaska | 44. Florida |
4. Hawaii | 45. Mississippi |
5. New Jersey | 46. Arkansas |
6. Rhode Island | 47. Wyoming |
7. Washington | 48. Alabama |
8. Massachusetts | 49. Nebraska |
9. New Hampshire | 50. South Dakota |
10. West Virginia | 51. Oklahoma |
Note: Rankings reflect data available as of 1 p.m. ET on April 6, 2020.
National Public Health Week 2020
The week of April 6-12, 2020 is National Public Health Week. Join the American Public Health Association in recognizing the contributions of public health and highlighting issues that are important to improving overall health. Use the hashtag “#NPHW2020” on social media and consider joining the Twitter Chat on April 8 at 2 p.m.
Click here for more information.
Click here to register for the Twitter Chat.
Free Oral Health Educational Curriculum: Smiles for Life
Smiles for Life (SFL) is a free online oral health curriculum. The curriculum consists of 60-minute modules covering core areas of oral health relevant to health professionals. The topics are: The Relationship of Oral Health & Systemic Health, Child Oral Health, Adult Oral Health, Acute Dental Problems, Pregnancy & Woman’s Oral Health, Caries Risk Assessment Fluoride Varnish & Counseling, The Oral Exam, and Geriatric Oral Health.
Lessons from The Front Lines: COVID-19
On April 3, CMS Administrator Seema Verma, Deborah Birx, MD, White House Coronavirus Task Force, and officials from the FDA, CDC, and FEMA participated in a call on COVID-19 Flexibilities. Several physician guests on the front lines presented best practices from their COVID-19 experience(s). You can listen to the conversation here.
Mental Health Remains a Concern in Rural America
As the coronavirus spreads across the country, the related anxiety, fear, and depression also threaten the health of Americans. Mental health experts say the combination of rising death tolls and social isolation make it difficult to cope with the pandemic. As the Director of the Office of Rural Mental Health Research, Andrea Beckel-Mitchener explains that rural communities often pursue counseling less often due to the “stigma to seeking help.” Further, rural areas often have less access to mental health care. Telehealth has received growing support recently and can greatly improve mental health care in rural communities. For tips on coping with social distancing and isolation, check out the advice given by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Indian Health Services and Rural Areas to be Given COVID-19 Testing Priority
Politico reports that in a April 2, 2020 news briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, announced that rapid point-of-care tests will distributed to areas of the country where current COVID-19 testing is scarcest. “These are new tests, and we have prioritized the groups that we think have the least access to testing now,” Dr. Birx said. “Priority will be given to Indian Health Services and rural areas that do not have access to labs that perform high-volume coronavirus tests.”
Bipartisan Leaders Ask HHS to Help Rural Providers
With the support from the National Rural Health Association, 41 senators and 81 representatives wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Azar urging the administration to fairly distribute aid to rural hospitals and health clinics. Under the CARES Act, the HHS Secretary has flexibility in how the $100 billion fund will be allocated to struggling providers. The lawmakers requested that funding be provided to rural hospitals quickly, as many are running low on money while preparing for the coronavirus. NRHA is concerned that large health systems (who also need help) will consume the funds due to small rural providers’ inability to compete for the funds. We are advocating for a rural set-aside to be established within these funds to ensure that rural providers can access this important, much-needed funding.
Analysis: Telehealth Can Turn Hotels into Inpatient Monitoring Facilities
Daily Yonder
By Craig Settles
Rural America already has a shortage of hospital beds. Telehealth could help move some patients to a new type of facility powered by broadband. New temporary regulations in response to COVID-19 will allow the change.
Some Rural Counties Have Among Highest Infection Rates in U.S.
Daily Yonder
By Bill Bishop, Tim Marema and Jan Pytalski
The novel coronavirus continues to spread across rural America, according to data USA Facts has compiled from state health authorities. Yesterday, April 1, an additional 58 rural counties reported their first Covid-19 cases.
The impact of the novel coronavirus varies across the rural landscape. On average, there were 14.1 cases of COVID-19 for every 100,000 rural residents. That rate is well below the national rate of 55.9 cases per 100,000 residents.
But most of us don’t live in an “average” county. There are 80 rural counties with infection rates above the national average (shown in red in the map). And some rural counties have COVID-19 infection rates among the highest in the country.
Some of the highest rates are in Rocky Mountain ski counties. (The Yonder reported this phenomenon last week.) Blaine County, Idaho, has a COVID-19 infection rate of 1,164 per 100,000. For comparison, the Bronx in New York City reported a rate of 598.6, the highest tally of any central city area.
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties
Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith J. Mueller, PhD
While the majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States are found in urban centers, rural areas are not free of cases. As of April 1, 2020, there were a total of 234,040 cases and 5,398 deaths identified in counties (data provided by USAFacts.org), with 8,866 cases and 206 deaths (about 3.8 percent of both) reported in non-metropolitan counties.
This RUPRI data brief shows the current nonmetropolitan and metropolitan spread of the disease, and the associated map shows how the disease has spread over time.
Click to down the updated maps, and the “progression” of cases throughout the country.
https://rupri.public-health.uiowa.edu/publications/policybriefs/2020/COVID%20History/