Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Closures of healthcare facilities and services
Addressing Rural Hospital Closures Through Infrastructure Reform
Provides a historical overview of rural Medicare reimbursement and provider designations and discusses their impact on hospital closures. Supports changing the rural health infrastructure to provide more flexibility for rural hospitals and to emphasize primary care and emergency care access.
Author(s): Eleni Salyers
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Provides a historical overview of rural Medicare reimbursement and provider designations and discusses their impact on hospital closures. Supports changing the rural health infrastructure to provide more flexibility for rural hospitals and to emphasize primary care and emergency care access.
Author(s): Eleni Salyers
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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A Flexible Solution: How Critical Access Hospitals Reshaped Rural Health
Brief video overview describing how the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created the Critical Access Hospital designation to reduce rural hospital closures. Discusses the role of the Senate Finance Committee and Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in developing the related policies, the transition of rural hospitals to critical access status, and the creation and impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program).
Date: 07/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Brief video overview describing how the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created the Critical Access Hospital designation to reduce rural hospital closures. Discusses the role of the Senate Finance Committee and Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in developing the related policies, the transition of rural hospitals to critical access status, and the creation and impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program).
Date: 07/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Declining Endoscopic Care by Family Physicians in Both Rural and Urban Areas
Results of a study using data from 2014-2016 to determine whether the percentage of family physicians providing endoscopic services has declined in rural as well as urban areas. Features statistics with breakdowns by 3 types of procedures and urban or rural location.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Urooj Nasim, Vashisht Madabhushi
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 32(4), 460-461
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
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Results of a study using data from 2014-2016 to determine whether the percentage of family physicians providing endoscopic services has declined in rural as well as urban areas. Features statistics with breakdowns by 3 types of procedures and urban or rural location.
Author(s): Lars E. Peterson, Urooj Nasim, Vashisht Madabhushi
Citation: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 32(4), 460-461
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
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A Rural Health Crisis: The Changing Landscape of the 1980s and Beyond
Brief video overview of issues in the 1980s that resulted in a wave of rural hospital closures, including an economic shift from manufacturing, farm closures, and changes in the Medicare payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Brief video overview of issues in the 1980s that resulted in a wave of rural hospital closures, including an economic shift from manufacturing, farm closures, and changes in the Medicare payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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How Rural Communities Adapt to Hospital Closure
Poster from the 2019 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting examining how rural communities have responded to hospital closures since 2010 based on a review of the literature. Focuses on short and long-term results related to access to emergency services, care delivery models, and community response.
Author(s): Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Erin M. Mobley, Mina Shrestha, Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Poster from the 2019 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting examining how rural communities have responded to hospital closures since 2010 based on a review of the literature. Focuses on short and long-term results related to access to emergency services, care delivery models, and community response.
Author(s): Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Erin M. Mobley, Mina Shrestha, Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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The Rural Hospital Problem
Provides a perspective on rural hospital closures, summarizing literature on contributing factors and impacts on healthcare access and rural economies. Also discusses hospital quality and hospital competition.
Author(s): Austin B. Frankt
Citation: JAMA, 321(23), 2271-2272
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
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Provides a perspective on rural hospital closures, summarizing literature on contributing factors and impacts on healthcare access and rural economies. Also discusses hospital quality and hospital competition.
Author(s): Austin B. Frankt
Citation: JAMA, 321(23), 2271-2272
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
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How the Federal Government Supports State and Local Efforts to Improve Rural Health: A Q&A with Tom Morris
Provides a Q&A with Tom Morris, associate administrator of rural health policy at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Focuses on how government agencies are addressing rural hospital closures, population health, rural workforce development, and the opioid epidemic.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Provides a Q&A with Tom Morris, associate administrator of rural health policy at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Focuses on how government agencies are addressing rural hospital closures, population health, rural workforce development, and the opioid epidemic.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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The Association of a Rural Hospital Closure with 30-Day Post Hospital Discharge Mortality from Selected Conditions
Poster presentation describing a 60-month-long study using data from the all-payer claims database from rural counties in one Southeastern state. Includes statistics for pre-closure characteristics of 3,029 study participants, with breakdowns by diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, sepsis, and trauma.
Author(s): Melinda A. Merrell, Janice Probst, Kevin Bennett, Bankole Olatosi, Jeffrey Hall
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Poster presentation describing a 60-month-long study using data from the all-payer claims database from rural counties in one Southeastern state. Includes statistics for pre-closure characteristics of 3,029 study participants, with breakdowns by diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction, stroke, sepsis, and trauma.
Author(s): Melinda A. Merrell, Janice Probst, Kevin Bennett, Bankole Olatosi, Jeffrey Hall
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Trends in Risk of Financial Distress among Rural Hospitals from 2015 to 2019
Details the proportion of rural hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), at high risk of financial distress by Census region and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement type from 2015 to 2019.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Details the proportion of rural hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), at high risk of financial distress by Census region and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement type from 2015 to 2019.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Characteristics of Communities Served by Rural Hospitals Predicted to be at High Risk of Financial Distress in 2019
Uses updated results from the Financial Distress Index to compare communities that are home to rural hospitals at high financial risk with areas having rural hospitals not at high risk. Features statistics including demographics, socioeconomics, and health status, with breakdowns by location in the South, the Midwest, the Northeast, and the West.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Uses updated results from the Financial Distress Index to compare communities that are home to rural hospitals at high financial risk with areas having rural hospitals not at high risk. Features statistics including demographics, socioeconomics, and health status, with breakdowns by location in the South, the Midwest, the Northeast, and the West.
Author(s): Sharita R. Thomas, George H. Pink, Kristin Reiter
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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