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.
Promising Practice: Summits Tackle Opioid Misuse and Treatment in Rural Illinois
by Beth Blevins Illinois is tackling the opioid crisis in its rural communities through a series of opioid summits sponsored by the Illinois Center for Rural Health (ICRH). “We realized there were no coalitions or groups working on opioid misuse in rural Illinois,”...
Promising Practice: Michigan Center for Rural Health Plays Unique Role in Hospital Quality Improvement
by Beth Blevins In the quest for hospital quality improvement, the Michigan Center for Rural Health (MCRH) is playing a unique role, serving as a liaison between independent Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the state and the state’s hospital association. “Usually...
Promising Practice: Utah SORH Saves Rural Hospital by Obtaining GSDA Certification
by Beth Blevins In his first week as director of the Utah Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, Matt McCullough faced a potential crisis: a Rural Health Clinic (RHC) in the southeastern part of the state was in danger of losing federal certification. Fortunately,...
Promising Practice: Minnesota Program Aims to Help Immigrant Physicians Practice in the State
by Beth Blevins A Minnesota program is aiming to tap the unused potential of international medical graduates who live in the state but can’t practice there. The , housed in the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC), evolved...
Promising Practice: Wisconsin Office of Rural Health Rallies EMS Providers in the State
By: Beth Blevins Rural EMS organizations in Wisconsin are learning to work together and rally for their needs, as evidenced by the recent EMS Day at the Capitol. The event grew out of an effort begun in 2015 by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health (WI-ORH) to assess...
Promising Practice: Reaching Out to Rural New Jersey
By: Beth Blevins Although most folks don’t think of New Jersey as “rural,” the New Jersey Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (NJ SORH) is working hard to reach out to the more than 700,000 residents who live in what the state defines as its non-metro areas. As...
Promising Practice: Rural Health Summits Bringing People Together Across Vermont to Exchange Ideas
By: Beth Blevins Bringing people together to learn from one another is the goal of collaboration—a goal that’s being achieved in Rural Health Summits held across Vermont. At the request of the Vermont State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (VT SORH/PC), leaders...
Promising Practice: Helping Rural Hawaii THRIVE
By: Beth Blevins Residents in rural communities across the Hawaiian Islands have been sharing their “stories of health” in community meetings as part of an effort to build a framework of health derived from community values and practices. “A common thread in all these...
Promising Practice: Nevada SORH Digs Up Data on Rural and Frontier Counties
By: Beth Blevins County-level data—particularly for rural counties—wasn’t always readily available in Nevada. But the (and the associated Nevada Instant Atlas website) changed all that. Now in its eighth edition, the Data Book, complied by the Nevada State Office of...
Promising Practice: Advisory Group in Washington State Works to Bring Palliative Care to Rural Patients
By: Beth Blevins An advisory team run by the Washington State Office of Rural Health (WA SORH) is looking at ways to bring palliative care to rural patients through telehealth and better community engagement. Palliative care aims to relieve the suffering of patients...