Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance
Forces Driving Change in Rural North Carolina
Examines major forces driving change in rural North Carolina communities, which influence people, communities, and businesses. Includes sections on rural healthcare inequities, social determinants of health, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on rural people. Features a county-level map showing health outcome rankings as of 2022, and statistics on the number of healthcare professionals per 10,000 people, with breakdowns by urban, suburban, and rural areas.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: NC Rural Center
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Examines major forces driving change in rural North Carolina communities, which influence people, communities, and businesses. Includes sections on rural healthcare inequities, social determinants of health, and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on rural people. Features a county-level map showing health outcome rankings as of 2022, and statistics on the number of healthcare professionals per 10,000 people, with breakdowns by urban, suburban, and rural areas.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: NC Rural Center
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Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program
Describes a pilot grant program designed to improve maternal and neonatal health in rural communities by collecting data and supporting the development of financially sustainable and coordinated network models. Aims to make maternal and obstetrics care more accessible through increased use of telehealth and specialty care. Fact sheet provides information on the activities of 3 rural networks funded through the RMOMS program.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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Describes a pilot grant program designed to improve maternal and neonatal health in rural communities by collecting data and supporting the development of financially sustainable and coordinated network models. Aims to make maternal and obstetrics care more accessible through increased use of telehealth and specialty care. Fact sheet provides information on the activities of 3 rural networks funded through the RMOMS program.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
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Current Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) Measures
Chart outlining the required and optional MBQIP measures. Measures are broken down into two categories, core and additional, and then into five domains: global measures, patient safety, patient engagement, care coordination, and emergency department. MBQIP is a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) quality improvement grant program for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Chart outlining the required and optional MBQIP measures. Measures are broken down into two categories, core and additional, and then into five domains: global measures, patient safety, patient engagement, care coordination, and emergency department. MBQIP is a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) quality improvement grant program for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Rural Health Clinic: 2026 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, medication safety, infection prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, medication safety, infection prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Workforce Impact of Emergency Department Boarding
Surveys 195 emergency department (ED) physicians about the impact of ED boarding on clinician wellness, burnout, moral injury, and workplace violence. Discusses policy ideas to alleviate challenges. Includes an urban, suburban, and rural breakdown of survey respondents.
Author(s): Vicki Norton, Kraftin E. Schreyer, Diane Kuhn
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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Surveys 195 emergency department (ED) physicians about the impact of ED boarding on clinician wellness, burnout, moral injury, and workplace violence. Discusses policy ideas to alleviate challenges. Includes an urban, suburban, and rural breakdown of survey respondents.
Author(s): Vicki Norton, Kraftin E. Schreyer, Diane Kuhn
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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Bridging Rural Communities: Telehealth Innovations for Appalachia and Beyond
Video series on innovative approaches to telehealth in rural Appalachia, hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Center (MATRC) on August 1, 2025. Features speakers on telehealth use in veterans' healthcare, substance use recovery, palliative care, mental health, healthy aging, emergency preparedness and response, cancer screening, and other topics related to healthcare access, quality of care, and healthcare economics. Transcripts are available via video descriptions.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center
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Video series on innovative approaches to telehealth in rural Appalachia, hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Center (MATRC) on August 1, 2025. Features speakers on telehealth use in veterans' healthcare, substance use recovery, palliative care, mental health, healthy aging, emergency preparedness and response, cancer screening, and other topics related to healthcare access, quality of care, and healthcare economics. Transcripts are available via video descriptions.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Center
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The Need for Medicare Dental Coverage
Details the oral health risks of limited dental coverage by Medicare. Discusses aging-related oral healthcare conditions, the economic barriers to care caused by lack of coverage, and how rurality can affect preexisting oral health disparities.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Details the oral health risks of limited dental coverage by Medicare. Discusses aging-related oral healthcare conditions, the economic barriers to care caused by lack of coverage, and how rurality can affect preexisting oral health disparities.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Rural Beneficiary Access to Medicare Advantage-Part D Plans
Policy brief updating RUPRI's analysis of Medicare Advantage-Part D plans (MA-PDs) including enhanced benefit plan availability and differences in characteristics across metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas. Features statistics including number of MA-PDs and stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs), average monthly premium costs, and availability in metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas from 2008-2023.
Author(s): Edmer Lazaro, Dan M. Shane, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Policy brief updating RUPRI's analysis of Medicare Advantage-Part D plans (MA-PDs) including enhanced benefit plan availability and differences in characteristics across metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas. Features statistics including number of MA-PDs and stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs), average monthly premium costs, and availability in metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas from 2008-2023.
Author(s): Edmer Lazaro, Dan M. Shane, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Skill Mix Versus Flexibility: Decoding Nurse Staffing Impacts on Critical Access Hospitals
Presents a study on the skill mix and flexibility of nurse staffing on the financial stability, care quality, and efficacy of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2023. Correlates skill mix and flexibility with hospital outcomes and controls for hospital-specific, socioeconomic, and demographic factors.
Author(s): Dinesh R. Pai, Esmaeil Bahalkeh
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(3), e70075
Date: 08/2025
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Presents a study on the skill mix and flexibility of nurse staffing on the financial stability, care quality, and efficacy of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2023. Correlates skill mix and flexibility with hospital outcomes and controls for hospital-specific, socioeconomic, and demographic factors.
Author(s): Dinesh R. Pai, Esmaeil Bahalkeh
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(3), e70075
Date: 08/2025
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End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model: Third Annual Evaluation Report, Calendar Years 2021-2023
Evaluation of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, incorporating analyses of home dialysis use, waitlisting for a kidney transplant, living donor and deceased donor transplantation, utilization of services, Medicare payments, and quality of care. Features results from interviews and surveys involving model participants and beneficiaries, and examines impacts of the first three years of the ETC Model, 2021-2023. Explores if the impacts of the ETC Model differed by patient subgroup, including rural residence.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group
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Evaluation of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, incorporating analyses of home dialysis use, waitlisting for a kidney transplant, living donor and deceased donor transplantation, utilization of services, Medicare payments, and quality of care. Features results from interviews and surveys involving model participants and beneficiaries, and examines impacts of the first three years of the ETC Model, 2021-2023. Explores if the impacts of the ETC Model differed by patient subgroup, including rural residence.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group
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