Promising Practices
NOSORH publishes monthly Promising Practice articles to bring attention to the innovative, effective, and valuable State Offices of Rural Health work. Promising Practices help you learn about, share and replicate the incredible rural health initiatives happening across the country.
Iowa Project Promotes Healthcare Careers Early
By Beth Blevins With an increasing shortage of rural healthcare workers, Iowa needs to recruit locally and early. That’s the idea behind the Opportunities in Health Sciences: Iowa Career Pathways, which helps high school students (and adult workers who are looking for...
Innovative Program Teaches Colorado Providers to Be Rural Leaders
By Beth Blevins Teaching rural providers to be better advocates for their patients and their communities was the goal of an innovative program conducted recently by the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)....
Community Cafes in Alaska Give People a Say in Their Health Care
Often the best ideas on community healthcare come from community members themselves—especially when they are engaging in active discussions with healthcare providers and others. That’s the idea behind community cafes, sponsored by the Alaska State Office of Rural...
Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health Puts Focus on Rural Human Trafficking
By Beth Blevins Human trafficking doesn’t just happen in big cities in the United States—it happens in rural areas as well. Lisa Davis, Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH), is working to bring more attention to this issue. Davis said her...
NC Office of Rural Health Helps Rural Providers Get Connected to HIT
By Beth Blevins Behavioral and other healthcare providers in rural North Carolina are getting connected to the statewide health information exchange thanks to the state’s Office of Rural Health Information Technology (ORH HIT) program. The ORH HIT program evolved from...
Promising Practice: Loan Repayment Programs in Nebraska Yielding Huge Payoffs
By Beth Blevins Loan repayment programs in rural Nebraska are showing huge payoffs: family medicine providers who participate in them are significantly less likely to leave small towns and rural areas than those who don’t. “We’re trying to maximize the impact and the...
Promising Practice: Arizona Center for Rural Health SHAREs Health Insurance Information, Gets People Enrolled
by Beth Blevins People in Arizona communities are becoming more aware of their health insurance options through Project SHARE (Students Helping Arizona Register Everyone). Project SHARE, run by the Arizona Center for Rural Health (AzCRH), trains University of Arizona...
Promising Practice: Team Effort in Idaho Achieves New Funding for Physician Repayment Program
by Beth Blevins Remarkably, less than a year after the Idaho State Office of Rural Health (ID SORH) set a goal to find new funding for a physician loan repayment program, the state legislature appropriated $640,000 annually for it. “It’s something we’re thrilled...
Promising Practice: Texas SORH’s Handheld Ultrasound Project – An Innovative Approach to Providing Training & Technology to Small Rural Hospitals
by Beth Blevins At a rural hospital in Texas last year, a woman’s life was saved when doctors, using a handheld ultrasound device, determined that her abdominal pain was due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and were able to act quickly to address it. The hospital had...
Promising Practice: Alabama SORH Collaborates with VA to Provide Telehealth Care for Vets
A chance encounter at a local store sparked a telehealth partnership between the Alabama Office of Rural Health (AL SORH) and Alabama Veterans Affairs (VA). “A couple of years ago, I was out shopping on a Sunday night and ran into Dr. Randall Weaver, whom I hadn’t...