This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Medicaid Financing Cliff: Implications for the Health Care Systems in Puerto Rico and USVI
Issue brief providing an overview of the status of healthcare systems and Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) a year and a half after hurricanes hit the islands in September 2017. Focuses on challenges and includes an analysis of the implications for the islands' Medicaid finances, as most of the temporary disaster relief funding is set to expire in September 2019. Features statistics on the two territories' past and projected Medicaid spending.
Author(s): Robin Rudowitz, Cornelia Hall, Barbara Lyons
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
The Competition Conundrum
Reports on an analysis of hospital and health insurance carrier market competition in Colorado and offers county-level data. Assesses the relationship between market competition and health insurance premiums. Includes discussion on health insurance market challenges specific to rural areas. Offers suggestions to improve market competition and conditions.
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Health Institute
view details
The Special Diabetes Program for Indians: Estimates of Medicare Savings
Examines the potential Medicare savings due to the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) efforts in providing diabetes prevention and treatment services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Focuses on diabetes prevalence and end-stage renal disease related to diabetes. Appendix II includes additional information about the SDPI.
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Rural/Urban and Regional Variation in the 2019 CMS Hospital Wage Index
Findings brief describing the geographic variation in the 2019 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital wage index by rural and urban definitions. Includes data comparisons for rural and urban definitions by Census region, frontier and remote (FAR) codes, and state.
Author(s): Kristie W. Thompson, Ann Howard, George H. Pink
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Opportunities to Advance Complex Care in Rural and Frontier Areas
Examines obstacles rural and frontier healthcare organizations face in providing complex care based on interviews with experts around the U.S. Focuses on rural social determinants of health, workforce shortages, and rural community relationships. Includes examples of models related to community collaboration, care coordination, social determinants of health, the health workforce, technology, and payment.
Author(s): Jim Lloyd
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
view details
The Race to Value-Based Payment
Slides from a presentation at the 2019 National Rural Health Association (NRHA) annual meeting on value-based payment. Highlights different models of payment transitioning from fee-for-service to value-based payment as well as facilitators and strategies used.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Medicare Physician Payment Reform After Two Years: Examining MACRA Implementation and the Road Ahead
Provides a recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on physician payment reforms under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Features testimonies about what is working well and challenges faced, including provisions and challenges for small and rural practices. Contains testimonies from the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Medical Group Association, and Brookings Institution.
Additional links: American Medical Association Testimony, John Cullen Testimony, Scott Hines Testimony
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
view details
Health and Health Care for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs)
Compares the rates of poverty, job security, insurance coverage, and chronic health needs in the American Indian and Alaska Native populations in the U.S.
Additional links: Infographic, Slides
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
Buprenorphine Prescribing by Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and Physicians After CARA 2016
Investigates the differences in buprenorphine prescribing patterns among nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) and physicians in Medicaid following implementation of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) addressing opioid use disorder (OUD). Retail pharmacy claims from July 2017 to June 2018 were analyzed to identify prescriber type, number of patients, payer type, rural and urban differences, and Medicaid trends for FDA-approved buprenorphine drugs for the treatment of OUD.
Author(s): Rekha Varghese, Karin Johnson, Bo Feng, et al.
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organizations: IMPAQ International, LLC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
Profile of American Indian Mothers with Oklahoma Medicaid Reimbursed Live Birth in 2016
An assessment of selected maternal characteristics and birth outcomes among American Indian mothers who gave live birth in Oklahoma in 2016 using data based on deliveries reimbursed by Oklahoma Medicaid, and data from Vital Records Division of Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH).
Author(s): Lu Zhou, Shelly Patterson, Tram Nguyen
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Oklahoma Health Care Authority, Oklahoma State Department of Health
view details