Rural Project Examples Addressing Access - Rural Health Information Hub

Updated/reviewed February 2024

Need: To develop sustainable, community-wide prevention methods for cardiovascular diseases in order to change behaviors and healthcare outcomes in rural Maine.
Intervention: Local community groups and Franklin Memorial Hospital staff studied mortality and hospitalization rates for 40 years in this rural, low-income area of Farmington to seek intervention methods that could address cardiovascular diseases.
Results: A decline in cardiovascular-related mortality rates and improved prevention methods for hypertension, high cholesterol, and smoking.

Updated/reviewed August 2023

Need: To address the oral health needs of low-income uninsured and underinsured residents in rural Appalachia.
Intervention: An oral health education program was implemented in Appalachian Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Results: This program increased oral health visits in the area and provided residents with valuable information on oral health resources and services.

Updated/reviewed December 2022

Need: To increase access to medical screening for miners in New Mexico.
Intervention: A mobile screening clinic with telemedicine capability screens miners for respiratory and other conditions.
Results: In a survey, 92% of miners reported their care as very good, while the other 8% reported it as good. The program has expanded to three other states.

Updated/reviewed August 2020

Need: Increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont.
Intervention: Statewide hub-and-spoke treatment access system.
Results: Increased treatment capacity and care coordination.

Updated/reviewed November 2021

Need: People in rural New Mexico often found it difficult to find and utilize needed resources from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC).
Intervention: UNMHSC created Health Extension Regional Offices (HEROs), in which HERO agents live in the communities they serve, help identify health and social needs, and link them with UNMHSC and other university resources.
Results: In their regions, HERO agents' activities have been diverse, including recruiting physicians, mobilizing research funds to address local priorities, working on economic development, training laypeople in Mental Health First Aid, and helping local institutions access UNMHSC resources.

Updated/reviewed April 2021

Need: Expand healthcare access for the more remote residents of 3 frontier counties in north central Idaho.
Intervention: Consortium of healthcare providers and community agencies used a hybrid Community Health Worker model to augment traditional healthcare delivery services in order to offer a diverse set of healthcare offerings to frontier area residents.
Results: Increased healthcare access, especially for cancer and chronic disease screening, along with providing education on a diverse array of health topics.

Updated/reviewed April 2020

Need: Allow rural cancer patients in a region inclusive of 26 counties in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota to have access to tertiary-level chemotherapy regimens in rural infusion centers.
Intervention: With telehealth-based oversight from a tertiary care oncology team, 3 rural infusion teams were trained to coordinate cancer treatment plans and administer complex chemotherapy regimens.
Results: Almost 130 patients were transitioned to receive chemotherapy in a rural infusion center, translating to over 1,000 infusion visits and saving patients/families nearly 65,000 trip miles, 1,800 travel hours and $71,000.

Updated/reviewed March 2024

Need: Affordable, dependable alternative to bridge the transportation gap between rural Missouri residents and their ability to connect with healthcare providers.
Intervention: Creation of HealthTran, a sustainable multi-service non-emergency transportation platform model based on the Community Mobility Management framework.
Results: After national recognition of its initial grant-funded pilot success, HealthTran has further evolved into a sustainable and replicable rural health-centric transportation membership model. Linking patients to appointments with healthcare providers, the model continues to expand further into rural Missouri, with some additional scaling in urban areas.

Added February 2024

Need: To provide a convenient and affordable lodging option for patients who have traveled from a distance to receive medical treatment in Bozeman, Montana.
Intervention: An RV parking program that lets anyone who is actively seeking care at Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center stay in the hospital parking lot.
Results: Throughout the summer of 2023, at least one patient was using an RV parking space at all times.

Updated/reviewed January 2024

Need: Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the state of South Carolina were purchasing breast milk from out-of-state milk banks for preterm infants.
Intervention: The Mother's Milk Bank of South Carolina (MMBSC) opened 26 sites in South Carolina for breast milk to be donated, safely pasteurized, and delivered to NICUs across the state.
Results: Over 19,178,739 ounces of milk have been donated to MMBSC depot sites and over 13,830,600 ounces of milk have been delivered to South Carolina NICUs.

Rural Project Examples: Access