Readmission Rates

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

People in underserved areas of the United States have higher rates of chronic disease than people in urban areas. They also have higher rates of certain types of cancer, from exposure to chemicals used in farming. A lot of rural patients who work as farmers or contractors or in family-owned businesses don’t have health insurance. Unemployment is also higher in less populated regions than in large cities.

Amongst the other industrialized countries of the world, the United States has the worst healthcare system (Davis, Stremikis, Squires, & Schoen, 2014). This ranking does not come from a lack of funds, considering the United States spends more than twice as much per capita than the United Kingdom which is ranked at number one (Davis, Stremikis, Squires, & Schoen, 2014). A major problem is America is the health disparities that vary across the nation. Health disparities “refer to differences in access to or availability of facilities and services. Health status disparities refer to the variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between socioeconomic and/or geographically defined population groups”("Health Care Disparities", 2009). Even though one RAND study suggests that virtually every demographic is at risk of not receiving needed care, there are definitely certain populations that are at higher risk of falling victim to these disparities ("National healthcare quality and disparities report 2014", 2015). A majority of Maine’s population falls into one of these riskier demographics, which is and will continue to affect the health and quality of life for Mainers if not addressed.

Another threat is the current state of rural hospitals nationwide. According to the case study, about 25% of Americans live in rural areas and only about 10% of physicians actually practice in rural areas. There is a 15% gap in the ratio of rural citizens to available practicing physicians. This is a threat to ELH’s need to attract and hire more physicians. In relation to rural hospitals, citizens have longer drive times to their medical facilities. This causes them to delay routine visits which subsequently exacerbates

People living in rural areas are experiencing highly limited excess to health care facilities either because they are not aware of the disease symptoms as a

The Causes of Disparities in Rural Healthcare There are many challenges facing health care for patients in rural areas that differ from patients that live in urban areas. Rural Americans has many factors that are causing disparities in health care unlike patients that live in urban area. Some of the major factors are economic, cultural, social differences, and the lack of jobs. The fact that these patient chose to live in a rural area shouldn’t cause them to have an unhealthy life.

Learning that this problem is not unique to my community, but is a statewide issue. I have seen first-hand the metaphorical ladder or hierarchy of the proper care you receive based on your residence. Coming from a small community makes things hard enough to receive care, but if you are also from an underserved state--compared to other states in the US—the odds of getting better are even more stacked up against you. This is why the call for better health care is so important in the state of New Mexico, especially in rural communities such as

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

The morbidity and mortality rates are higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas partly due to the high rates of chronic illness and poor health behaviors. The health care disparities of the rural population have led to negative bias. The bias within the health care field have affected clinical judgment and decision making (Blair, Steiner, & Havranek, 2011). Bias further lead and exponentiate health disparities, continuing the trends and challenges among the rural population. Economic status is another negative impact of health care disparities among the rural population. Their low economic status continues to effect the availability of resources to improve the health care infrastructure and specialization. Health reform is needed to improve the effects of the health care disparities and their negative impacts on the rural

Quality healthcare in the more rural areas of the United States is not only getting more difficult to obtain, but difficult to afford. American citizens living in rural areas have the highest rates of chronic disease, higher poverty populations, less health insurance, and there is less access to primary care physicians. When the economy is at its lowest point it causes an increase in a number of access and health issues that have already had prior problems in communities and in rural areas, therefore the main goal of the national health care tax of 2010 was to allow coverage to all residents of the United States, and also by transferring necessary health care to places that were farther away, such as the

Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved

Background: Appalachia America consists of 13 states, 420 counties, and has a multicultural population of 23 million. Despite being a sizeable population and having access to health care, people of the Appalachian region do not receive regular health care. This review of the literature is to identify the obstacles Appalachian families must overcome to access health care and determine the reasons why the people of the Appalachian region do not seek health care.

For years, healthcare costs have continued to increase in the United States and policymakers are constantly trying to find ways to reduce spending. According to reports, in 2011, about $900 billion out of the $2.6 trillion annual health care spending was wasteful spending. In the following year, there was a reported $690 billion wasted annually on healthcare. This wasteful spending is attributed to ineffective health care delivery, cost of adverse events, and poor care coordination that has led to avoidable readmissions (Lallemand, 2012). In the United States, readmissions are the highest amongst patients with chronic diseases accounting for about 90% of avoidable readmissions in 30 days after discharge, and costing the industry an estimated $17 billion. These readmissions are a result of inadequate discharge planning, lack of follow-up, and lack of education on disease management (Jayakody et al., 2016). Policymakers on the federal and state level have developed and implemented several programs, some varying state to state, to help reduce wasteful spending while improving quality of care.

The people of rural Appalachia have long been affected by income and poor education, but now those issues have created greater problems. According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, the unemployment rate has been more severe in Appalachia than anywhere in the nation as a whole (Appalachian Regional Commission 2011). So many families in these counties must focus first and foremost on merely getting by. When money is tight at home, health care is often the first thing that takes a backseat to placing food on the table and roof over a families ' head. They are vulnerable, undereducated, and are inadequately equipped to deal with changes occurring in the environment around them. These issues combined with language barriers, cultural and religious beliefs have created an unusual population to educate and provide treatment for in modern healthcare. This has resulted in a premature mortality rate that when

“Living in rural towns can be challenging for us elderly folks. In order for me to receive medical attention, I would wait the next day to drive miles to see the doctor,” Ms. Washington. Clearly the deficiencies in the health care profession are a major issue for low class citizens, specifically the elderly, living in rural areas that deserve attention. As a result, health care facilities and physicians in rural areas go by the population with health benefits so they can assist the patient. Otherwise, if the patient does not have health benefits would have to wait longer or seek medical support from a distance.