Publications

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Below is a listing of recent Sheps Center journal articles.  Search PubMed to find more Sheps Center articles.

  • Sheps Center publications from PubMed

    Centering Community Engagement in a Hypertension Clinical Trial: Strategies to Engage Rural Black Patients in the Southeastern Collaboration to Improve Blood Pressure Control
    - Stephanie Hart

    Black Americans residing in rural communities are often excluded from clinical trials for hypertension, despite having a high prevalence of the disease and frequent complications. This report describes our research team's experience to support recruitment and retention of rural Black patients with uncontrolled hypertension in the southeastern United States in a cluster-randomized clinical trial. While the focus of this report is on enrollment and engagement, the strategies employed were grounded [...]

    Quality of Care, Hospital Bypass, and Follow-Up Visits Following an ED Visit for Rural Heart Failure Patients
    - Hannah R Friedman

    CONCLUSIONS: Using the nearest hospital (i.e., not bypassing it) and using higher quality hospitals was associated with a higher probability of timely follow-up, which may be important in preventing hospital readmissions. There may be benefits to rural patients' use of their nearest hospital, such as proximity to support and lower travel burden. [...]

    Vaginal Estrogen Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause
    - Kelsey Gallo

    CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this large cohort study, 9.0% of female Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis indicative of GSM filled a VE prescription. Younger and healthier beneficiaries and those with GSM multimorbidity were more likely to fill a VE prescription. The majority of patients with GSM symptoms, including dyspareunia, vulvovaginal atrophy, and recurrent urinary tract infections, did not fill a VE prescription. Improving patient and practitioner education, revising the diagnostic [...]

    Timing of Upper Urinary Tract Stone Surgery after Initial Presentation for Renal Colic with Concomitant Urinary Infection
    - Wesley R Pate

    CONCLUSIONS: We found no benefit in delaying surgery with respect to 30-day post-operative revisits for patients presenting with renal colic and concomitant UTI. Delays led to higher total episode-related costs, largely driven by the pre-operative period. UTI at presentation was associated with delays in surgery, and our findings illustrate the importance of future prospective studies evaluating the impact of surgical timing on patients with urolithiasis and UTI. [...]

    Postpartum Medicaid Use in Birthing Parents and Access to Financed Care
    - Jonas J Swartz

    (Abstracted from JAMA Health Forum 2025;6(6):e251630) Medicaid covers more than 40% of all births in the United States, but pregnancy-related physical and mental health coverage traditionally ends 60 days postpartum. Recognizing the limitations of this policy, the American Rescue Act of 2021 allowed states to extend coverage to 12 months after delivery-a change now adopted by all states except Arkansas. [...]