Rural Project Examples: Reimbursement and payment models

Effective Examples

Community Health Worker-based Chronic Care Management Program

Updated/reviewed August 2024

• Need: Improve healthcare access and decrease chronic disease disparities in rural Appalachia.
• Intervention: A unique community health worker-based chronic care management program, created with philanthropy support.
• Results: After a decade of use in attending to population health needs, health outcomes, healthcare costs, in 2024, the medical condition-agnostic model has a 4-year track record of financial sustainability with recent scaling to include 31 rural counties in a 3-state area of Appalachia and recent implementation in urban areas.

Promising Examples

Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Hospital-based Transitional Care Program

Added July 2024

• Need: Solutions for Medicare beneficiaries' post-acute care recovery gaps in Arkansas's southeast Delta Region.
• Intervention: Supported by federal funding and their membership organization, seven hospitals implemented an evidence-supported Critical Access Hospital transitional care model.
• Results: Participating hospitals found a significant increase in swing bed services revenue, an all-cause low readmission rate, high percentage of patients discharged to home or to an assisted living environment, and positive patient satisfaction surveys.

Other Project Examples

NEON Pathways Community Hub

Updated/reviewed July 2020

• Need: Connect individuals to services that address health barriers.
• Intervention: A pay-for-outcomes model utilizing Community Health Workers who help provide community members with tools to address needs associated with improving health.
• Results: Trained Community Health Workers help patients navigate the healthcare and social service systems and provide education about community healthcare resources.