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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Four Stages of Planning and Implementation During COVID-19: One Rural Hospital's Preparations
Highlights a rural California hospital's four stage plan in preparing for a potential patient surge related to the COVID-19 pandemic and addresses actions achieved to ensure quality in the current care and treatment of patients. Discusses the steps taken to provide care through community outreach and to maintain financial support.
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Confronting Rural America's Health Care Crisis
Offers policy recommendations to stabilize the rural healthcare infrastructure and ensuring local access to care. Discusses strategies to provide financial relief to rural providers, preserve obstetric services, expand telehealth services, and address workforce shortages. Includes brief references to policy actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional links: Rural Hospital Transformation Models, Summary, The Case for Expanding Telehealth Services, July 2020
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center Rural Health Task Force
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Health Care Provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, P.L. 116-127
Provides an overview of the healthcare-related provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Focuses on coverage of COVID-19 testing and related items for individuals covered by Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, Veterans healthcare, the IHS, and most private plans. Includes a discussion of changes to Medicare coverage of telehealth services.
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Patterns of Hospital Bypass and Inpatient Care‐Seeking by Rural Residents
Analyzes state inpatient data from 2014-2016 across 16 states to determine how inpatient hospital bypass behavior – rural residents utilizing a hospital other than their local hospital – is motivated by patient and hospital characteristics. Compares hospital characteristics, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), by rural bypass level and compares patient demographics by rural bypass status.
Author(s): Tyler Malone, Mark Holmes
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Community Health Centers in a Time of Change: Results from an Annual Survey
Summarizes results from the Kaiser Family Foundation/Geiger Gibson 2019 Community Health Center Survey. Explores trends in patient health coverage, healthcare affordability, and health center revenue; social determinants of health; potential implications of Medicaid work requirements; participation in the Title X program; and other challenges facing health centers. Includes rural references throughout. Presents survey response data by urban and rural status in Appendix A.
Author(s): Jessica Sharac, Anne Markus, Jennifer Tolbert, Sara Rosenbaum
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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Rural Hospital Participation in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations
Report explores the rates of rural hospital participation in Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP) Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Details some of the factors that correspond to participation and compares rates by region and by rural status.
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Impact of CAH Participation in Flex Financial and Operations Improvement Activities on Hospital Financial Indicators
Explores the association between Critical Access Hospitals' (CAH) participation in financial and operational improvement activities between 2015 and 2018 with improved financial indicators. Compares CAH financial indicators and other variables including Rural Health Clinic operation, ownership type, and census region, by the number of years of participation in CAH improvement activities.
Author(s): Kathleen Knocke, Kristin Reiter, George H. Pink
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Geographic Variation in the 2018 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals
Compares the profitability of Critical Access Hospitals, other rural hospitals, and urban hospitals in 2018 by census region, census division, and state. Examines the reasons for geographic variation in the profitability of urban and rural hospitals.
Additional links: 2016‐18 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals by Medicare Payment Classification, Rural Hospitals with Long‐Term Unprofitability, Understanding the Broader Context of Rural Hospitals and Profitability
Author(s): Andrew W. Maxwell, Ann Howard, George H. Pink
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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2020 Rural Hospital Sustainability Index
Reports on an analysis of rural hospital financial viability. Identifies the number of hospitals by state at financial risk of closing and the number by state at high financial risk that are considered essential for community trauma access. Full report is available with email registration.
Additional links: State-Based Data
Author(s): David Mosley, Daniel DeBehnke
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Guidehouse
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Small Area Health Insurance Estimates: 2018
Reports on health insurance coverage in the U.S. in 2018 and changes between 2017 and 2018, as well as changes between 2013 and 2018. Includes maps showing county-level uninsured rates.
Additional links: Visualizations and Reference Maps
Author(s): Thomas W. Walton, Katherine Ann Willyard
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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