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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare facilities

Rural Health Research Recap: Rural Hospital Closures: 2023 Update
Summarizes recent research from Rural Health Research Centers examining hospital closures. Features statistics including number of acute hospitals as of 2020 with breakdowns by type and location, rural hospital closures from 2005-2022 with breakdowns by isolated rural, small rural, and large rural location, and numbers of closures by year from 2005-2022 with breakdowns by complete or converted closures.
Author(s): Per Ostmo
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Training the Primary Care Workforce to Deliver Team-Based Care in Underserved Areas: The Teaching Health Center Program
Provides an overview of the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program. Describes the THCGME program's outcomes in training primary care medical and dental providers, the practice settings of THCGME family medicine graduates, and services provided by program graduates. Profiles four THCGME programs, including three programs that serve tribal or rural areas. Discusses challenges facing Teaching Health Centers, proposed solutions, and key takeaways and recommendations for policymakers.
Author(s): Emily Hawes, Jacob Rains, Candice Chen, Erin Fraher
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Medicare Claims Processing Manual: Chapter 9 - Rural Health Clinics/Federally Qualified Health Centers
Describes the differences between Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Identifies the rules and regulations for processing Medicare claims.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Rural Track Programs: A Guide to the Updated Medicare Requirements
An overview of the requirements to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Rural Track Program (RTP), which is a partnership between an urban hospital - the primary clinical site - and rural site(s) for medical residency training. Describes how the RTP program differs from the earlier rural training track (RTT) program.
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of American Medical Colleges
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Interoperability among Hospitals Treating Populations That Have Been Marginalized
Examines how hospitals that serve more marginalized patients engage with interoperability. Compares the percentage of hospitals supporting interoperable exchange and participating in national networks by hospital characteristics, including Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation and rural-urban status.
Author(s): Jordan Everson, Vaishali Patel, Andrew W. Bazemore, Robert L. Phillips
Citation: Health Services Research, 58(4), 853-864
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Rural Health Challenges and Opportunities
Presentation slides discussing rural health challenges, including access and affordability, poor health, and underlying factors driving the stress on rural health systems. Outlines policy opportunities to improve affordability and create incentives for improved health.
Author(s): Timothy McBride
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy and Economics Research, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs): CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19
Outlines specific regulatory waivers and Medicare flexibilities for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Includes information on payments for telehealth services, COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and more. Identifies whether each waiver or flexibility was terminated, ended at the conclusion of the public health emergency, was extended, or became permanent.
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Mortality Among US Veterans Admitted to Community vs Veterans Health Administration Hospitals for COVID-19
Reviewed 64,856 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) elderly enrollees between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 to compare COVID-19 health outcomes for those admitted to VHA hospitals to those admitted to community hospitals. Discusses access to VHA hospitals for rural veterans. Makes recommendations for future COVID-19 surges and other pandemics.
Author(s): Michael E. Ohl, Kelly Richardson Miell, Brice F. Beck, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(5)
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Patient-Centered Care Through Nurse Practitioner–Led Integrated Behavioral Health: A Case Study
Examines the implementation of a nurse practitioner-led interprofessional team-based behavioral healthcare delivery model in 5 rural or medically underserved clinics in Texas from July 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021. Analyzes the first year of implementation of the delivery model utilizing multiple data sources, with a focus on barriers to implementation, challenges to sustainability, and successes.
Author(s): Cindy Weston, Elizabeth Wells-Beede, Alice Salazar, et al.
Citation: Public Health Reports, 138(1)
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Community Health Centers Seek to Prepare Medicaid Beneficiaries, and Themselves, for the Risks Ahead
Explores how Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), including an FQHC serving rural North Carolina, are helping Medicaid beneficiaries stay enrolled or find alternate coverage during the post-COVID-19 redetermination process. Describes how operations of these FQHCs have been changed by funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and pandemic-related regulatory flexibilities.
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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