What types of initiatives are being implemented to solve rural health disparities?
Initiatives that seek to improve availability of and access to health services, improve health care quality and health care safety, recruit healthcare workforce, lower health care costs, secure adequate Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and implement up to date technology that includes HIT and Broadband will minimize the rural health disparities. For examples of what can be done at the local level the National Rural Health Association has collected a variety of Models that Work as part of its Quality Through Collaboration initiative. Models that Work highlights examples of collaboration in communities with the goal of improving the quality of care provided in a community and addressing the needs of population health. Also, see the Rural Assistance Center’s Success Stories section for summaries of successful rural projects working to improve health care. Many of these success stories are products of grant opportunities distributed by the Office of Rural Health Policy.
