Telehealth Impact in Frontier Critical Access Hospitals: Mixed Methods Evaluation.

Background: Frontier areas are sparsely populated counties in states where 65% of the counties have 6 or fewer residents per square mile. Residents access primary care at critical access hospitals (CAHs) located in these rural communities but must travel great distances for specialty care. Telehealth could address access challenges; however, there are barriers to broader use, including reimbursement and the need for practical implementation support.

Factors Influencing Telehealth Implementation and Use in Frontier Critical Access Hospitals: Qualitative Study.

Background: Telehealth has potential to help individuals in rural areas overcome geographical barriers and to improve access to care. The factors that influence the implementation and use of telehealth in critical access hospitals are in need of exploration.

Objective: The aim of this study is to understand the factors that influenced telehealth uptake and use in a set of frontier critical access hospitals in the United States.

Supporting multi-state collaboration on privacy and security to foster health IT and health information exchange.

As part of the HHS funded contract, Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration, 41 states and territories have proposed collaborative projects to address cross-state privacy and security challenges related to health IT and health information exchange. Multi-state collaboration on privacy and security issues remains complicated, and resources to support collaboration around these topics are essential to the success of such collaboration. The resources outlined here offer an example of how to support multi-stakeholder, multi-state projects.

Staphylococcus aureus virulence genes identified by bursa aurealis mutagenesis and nematode killing.

Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of wound and hospital-acquired infections worldwide. The emergence of S. aureus strains with resistance to multiple antibiotics requires the identification of bacterial virulence genes and the development of novel therapeutic strategies.