Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance
Making the Most of Evolving Payment Policies to Enhance Hospital-based Care in Rural Communities
Presentation slides from the 2017 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference that discuss the transition from volume to value for rural hospital payment and how to make the most of resources available to facilities. Includes examples of services and documents for reference as well as data and statistics surrounding Medicare Advantage and Accountable Care Organizations in rural communities.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Presentation slides from the 2017 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference that discuss the transition from volume to value for rural hospital payment and how to make the most of resources available to facilities. Includes examples of services and documents for reference as well as data and statistics surrounding Medicare Advantage and Accountable Care Organizations in rural communities.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Telemedicine and Primary Care Obesity Management in Rural Areas – Innovative Approach for Older Adults?
Explores telemedicine as a potential delivery tool for the Medicare Obesity Benefit in primary care settings. Describes challenges in implementing the benefit in rural areas, including increasing older adult populations, shortages in primary care and specialized healthcare providers, reimbursement issues, and transportation barriers. Presents the potential utility of telemedicine in rural obesity care and non-physician staff delivery options, which require regulatory changes.
Author(s): John Batsis, Sarah Pletcher, James Stahl
Citation: BMC Geriatrics, 17, 6
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
view details
Explores telemedicine as a potential delivery tool for the Medicare Obesity Benefit in primary care settings. Describes challenges in implementing the benefit in rural areas, including increasing older adult populations, shortages in primary care and specialized healthcare providers, reimbursement issues, and transportation barriers. Presents the potential utility of telemedicine in rural obesity care and non-physician staff delivery options, which require regulatory changes.
Author(s): John Batsis, Sarah Pletcher, James Stahl
Citation: BMC Geriatrics, 17, 6
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
view details
Changes in Individual and Small Group Behavioral Health Coverage Following the Enactment of Parity Requirements: Final Report
Examines the impact of extending parity protections for behavioral health coverage in 2014 to individual and small group plans, requiring them to cover behavioral health treatments at the same level as medical/surgical services. Addresses additional barriers for rural areas, such as network adequacy and shortages of psychiatrists.
Author(s): Alexander J. Cowell, Shivaani Prakash, Alan Barnosky, Brendan Wedehase, Allison Briggs
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Examines the impact of extending parity protections for behavioral health coverage in 2014 to individual and small group plans, requiring them to cover behavioral health treatments at the same level as medical/surgical services. Addresses additional barriers for rural areas, such as network adequacy and shortages of psychiatrists.
Author(s): Alexander J. Cowell, Shivaani Prakash, Alan Barnosky, Brendan Wedehase, Allison Briggs
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Evaluating the HCIA - Behavioral Health/Substance Abuse Awards: Third Annual Report
Third annual evaluations of 10 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on mental health and substance abuse services. Awardee-specific chapters focus on program objectives, implementation experiences, and participant outcomes. Programs include HealthLinkNow, which uses telehealth to provide behavioral care services in rural areas, and the Prevention and Recovery in Early Psychosis Program, which was expanded to serve to rural counties in California.
Additional links: Addendum, July 2017
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica Policy Research
view details
Third annual evaluations of 10 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on mental health and substance abuse services. Awardee-specific chapters focus on program objectives, implementation experiences, and participant outcomes. Programs include HealthLinkNow, which uses telehealth to provide behavioral care services in rural areas, and the Prevention and Recovery in Early Psychosis Program, which was expanded to serve to rural counties in California.
Additional links: Addendum, July 2017
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica Policy Research
view details
Social Determinants of Health
Policy brief informed by a September 2016 National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with site visits to update the committee about factors that affect health outcomes. Identifies emerging payment models and financing strategies, and provides policy recommendations for addressing the social determinants of health in rural communities.
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
view details
Policy brief informed by a September 2016 National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with site visits to update the committee about factors that affect health outcomes. Identifies emerging payment models and financing strategies, and provides policy recommendations for addressing the social determinants of health in rural communities.
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
view details
Veterans in Rural America: 2011-2015
Reports detailed demographic, social, and economic characteristics of rural veterans, based primarily on 2011–2015 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Includes comparisons of rural veterans to both urban veterans and rural nonveterans. Topics addressed include health insurance coverage, disability status and service-connected disability, and use of VA healthcare.
Additional links: Rural Veterans State Tables
Author(s): Kelly Ann Holder
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Reports detailed demographic, social, and economic characteristics of rural veterans, based primarily on 2011–2015 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Includes comparisons of rural veterans to both urban veterans and rural nonveterans. Topics addressed include health insurance coverage, disability status and service-connected disability, and use of VA healthcare.
Additional links: Rural Veterans State Tables
Author(s): Kelly Ann Holder
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Community Health Centers: Recent Growth and the Role of the ACA
Uses 2015 federal data on health centers and survey results from the 2016 Survey of Health Centers' Experiences and Activities to provide an overview of health centers and their patients. Compares health centers in Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states, covering topics such as revenue sources, service capacity, patient demographics, patient health coverage, and more. Also discusses the distribution and impact of health centers in rural and medically underserved communities.
Author(s): Sara Rosenbaum, Julia Paradise, Anne Markus, et al.
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
Uses 2015 federal data on health centers and survey results from the 2016 Survey of Health Centers' Experiences and Activities to provide an overview of health centers and their patients. Compares health centers in Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states, covering topics such as revenue sources, service capacity, patient demographics, patient health coverage, and more. Also discusses the distribution and impact of health centers in rural and medically underserved communities.
Author(s): Sara Rosenbaum, Julia Paradise, Anne Markus, et al.
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
2016 Rural Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces, by State
Provides enrollment data through March 2016 for state health insurance marketplaces (HIMs) functioning as federally facilitated marketplaces (FFMs) and as federally supported state-based marketplaces (FS-SBMs). Enrollment rates are identified as a percent of the potential market of participants, and parsed by metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas for each state.
Author(s): Abigail R. Barker, Kelsey A. Huntzberry, Timothy D. McBride, Leah M. Kemper, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Provides enrollment data through March 2016 for state health insurance marketplaces (HIMs) functioning as federally facilitated marketplaces (FFMs) and as federally supported state-based marketplaces (FS-SBMs). Enrollment rates are identified as a percent of the potential market of participants, and parsed by metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas for each state.
Author(s): Abigail R. Barker, Kelsey A. Huntzberry, Timothy D. McBride, Leah M. Kemper, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Accounting for Social Risk Factors in Medicare Payment
Fifth and final report in a series designed to identify social risk factors that affect the health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries and methods to account for these factors in Medicare payment programs. Offers thoughts about selecting the best methods to account for social risk factors and achieve policy goals. Chapter 2 includes a discussion about urbanicity and rurality, and suggests that a beneficiary's place of residence is a stronger indicator of social risk than their provider's location. Report was assembled by an ad hoc committee under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Accounting for Socioeconomic Status in Medicare Payment Programs
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
Fifth and final report in a series designed to identify social risk factors that affect the health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries and methods to account for these factors in Medicare payment programs. Offers thoughts about selecting the best methods to account for social risk factors and achieve policy goals. Chapter 2 includes a discussion about urbanicity and rurality, and suggests that a beneficiary's place of residence is a stronger indicator of social risk than their provider's location. Report was assembled by an ad hoc committee under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Accounting for Socioeconomic Status in Medicare Payment Programs
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
Indian Health Service: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight of Quality of Care
Reports results from a performance audit conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from March 2016 through January 2017, examining IHS's oversight of quality of care in its federally operated facilities. Draws conclusions based on a review of policies related to quality of care, interviews with IHS officials at the headquarters and area offices, and examination of documents from governance meetings. Makes recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on actions that can be taken to help ensure quality care is provided in federally operated IHS facilities. Appendices include the responding comments from HHS and provide additional information about leadership turnover at IHS offices and facilities.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Reports results from a performance audit conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from March 2016 through January 2017, examining IHS's oversight of quality of care in its federally operated facilities. Draws conclusions based on a review of policies related to quality of care, interviews with IHS officials at the headquarters and area offices, and examination of documents from governance meetings. Makes recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on actions that can be taken to help ensure quality care is provided in federally operated IHS facilities. Appendices include the responding comments from HHS and provide additional information about leadership turnover at IHS offices and facilities.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details