Resources and Policy Issues for Rural Health Care: The Role of State Offices of Rural Health

Rural America resides in eighty percent of total U.S land area, and comprises seventeen percent of the total United States population. This session provides an introduction to, and overview of, the role State Offices of Rural Health play in rural health care in the United States. State Offices of Rural Health have a rich history of developing partnerships, creating programs and providing resources that help meet the health care needs of rural Americans. State Offices of Rural Health help individual communities build health care delivery capacity.

State Offices of Rural Health and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health are funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy, located in the Health Resources and Services Administration, Health and Human Services. The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, established in 1995, strengthens the capacity of State Offices of Rural Health to improve health care in rural America through leadership development, advocacy, education and partnerships. It serves as the membership organization for State Offices of Rural Health.

Each state has a rural health office. Offices vary in size, scope organizational structure and services and resources they provide. Most are organized within State health departments, but some are located in universities or not-for-profit organizations. Descriptions of organization and funding of State Offices of Rural Health and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health will be provided along with an analysis of the role of these organizations in rural health care delivery. Examples of programs funded by State Offices of Rural Health and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health will illustrate rural health impacts.

Finally, policy strategies at the state and local level will be presented. The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health has developed a series of policy platform papers which address 1.reducing oral health disparities in rural communities, 2.emergency medical services in rural communities, 3. expanding the rural healthcare workforce, 4.health information technology, 5.critical access hospitals, 6. Underserved populations, and 7. reducing behavioral health disparities in rural communities. Background information and recommended strategies to address these concerns will be detailed.

State examples of policy strategies will include descriptions of State Office of Rural Health policy roles in state level health care reform and the Stimulus Package. For example, the Iowa and Massachusetts Offices of Rural Health have been actively working to ensure successful implementation of health care reform in their states.