Defining “Rural” for Veterans’ Health Care Planning

Abstract

VHA's Rural category is very large and broadly dispersed; policy makers should supplement analyses of Rural veterans' health care needs with more detailed breakdowns. Most of VHA's Highly Rural enrollees live in the western United States where distances to care are great and alternative delivery systems may be needed.

Geographic and Racial/Ethnic Variations in Patterns of Multimorbidity Burden in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

“…Patient residence was classified as urban or rural; with highly rural categorized as rural as defined by the VA definition of rurality. 21 22 We also considered medication status (receipt versus non-receipt of prescription for diabetes medication during the study period) and service-connected disability as a dichotomous (<50%, ≥50%) proxy variable to measure copay status, as has been done in multiple prior studies. 17,[23][24][25] Outcome measure…”

Remote eye care screening for rural veterans with Technology-based Eye Care Services: a quality improvement project

“…In this case report, demographic data, access to care, and cost data are reported specifically with regard to urban, rural, and highly rural veterans. Rurality, defined by Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes 18 , was based on resident zip code and classified veterans as living in urban, rural, and highly rural areas. Patients making appointments for a TECS visit at one of the three community-based outpatient clinics were identified through the VA's corporate data warehouse, a standard database structure that incorporates data from multiple data sets throughout the VA to facilitate reporting and data analysis at the enterprise level.…”

E-mental health preferences of Veterans with and without probable posttraumatic stress disorder

“…An incentive of $20 was included with the survey to provide remuneration for Veterans' and National Guard members' time. Rural and urban coding followed VHA guidelines in which urban residents are defined as those living in a U.S. Census-defined urbanized area [16]. Rural residents included anyone not defined as urban.…”

“…Among Veterans who live in rural areas, the distance required to travel to obtain services in person substantially reduces service use and has been identified as the primary barrier to receipt of treatment [15]. Logistical barriers to healthcare services are common within the Pacific Islands, where approximately half of the population lives in areas that are classified as rural or highly rural [16].…”