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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Ambulance Services: Medicare Payments Can be Better Targeted to Trips in Less Densely Populated Rural Areas
Covers factors that affect ambulance costs per trip, how these factors vary across geographic areas, and how well Medicare payments account for geographic cost differences.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Impact of The Medicaid Budgetary Crisis on Rural Communities
Provides an overview of options states have to reduce Medicaid program costs, potential impact of these changes on rural areas, and potential impact of proposed federal changes to Medicaid for rural areas.
Author(s): Pam Silberman, Matthew Rudolf, Cammie D'Alpe, Randy Randolph, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 08/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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A Primer on Interpreting Hospital Margins
Explains the most commonly used measures of hospital profitability, and how they are used to inform policy changes. Particular emphasis on the different formulas as they impact rural versus urban hospital figures.
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 07/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Rural Health Networks: Evolving Organizational Forms and Functions
Discusses results of a survey of rural health networks. Includes information about the location, membership, relationships, governance and management, process and products of rural health networks.
Author(s): Ira Moscovice, Walt Gregg, Eric Lewerenz
Date: 06/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Enrollment in FEHBP Plans in Rural America: What are the Implications for Medicare Reform?
Discusses how the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) functions in rural areas. FEHBP is being considered as a model for how private plans could be incorporated into the Medicare program and how an outpatient prescription drug benefit could be added.
Additional links: State-by-State FEHBP Enrollment Analysis, State-by-State FEHBP Enrollment Analysis, by County and Plan
Author(s): Timothy McBride, Keith Mueller, Courtney Andrews, Liyan Xu, Roslyn Fraser
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(8)
Date: 06/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Variation and Innovation in Medicare
Analyzes variation within the Medicare program and explores a variety of possible payment innovations. Includes some rural-specific information. Geographic, market, quality, hospital financial performance, and use of physician services variations are covered. Also examines Medicare's reimbursement for Part B drugs. Recommendations include quality incentives and competitive pricing.
Date: 06/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Trends in Rural Hospital Closure: 1990 - 2000
Focuses on the extent, characteristics, reasons for and impact of rural hospitals closures from 1990 through 2000. Includes rural hospital closure data by state.
Date: 05/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Analysis of Availability of Medicare + Choice, Commercial HMO, and FEHBP Plans in Rural Areas: Implications for Medicare Reform
Examines viability of introducing private competition into the Medicare program. Discusses availability of Medicare+Choice (M+C), commercial HMO, and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans in rural (nonmetropolitan) counties.
Author(s): Timothy McBride, Courtney Andrews, Keith Mueller, Michael Shambaugh-Miller
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(5)
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2003
Report to the Congress. Reviews the Medicare prospective payment systems (PPSs) for seven sectors: hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician, skilled nursing, home health, outpatient dialysis, and ambulatory surgical center services. Also discusses broader issues related to Medicare payments. Includes recommendations. Appendix with data on hospital financial performance for 1991-2000.
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Shared Destiny: Community Effects of Uninsurance
Discusses effects of uninsurance on healthcare financing, delivery and access. Discusses economic and social implications of uninsurance for communities, including information specific to rural communities.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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