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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Home Health Care Services: Chapter 7
Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2022 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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2023 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report: Chartbook on Patient Safety
Summarizes trends in healthcare quality across 28 measures of patient safety. Presents findings for four settings of care: ambulatory care, home health, hospitals, and nursing homes. Describes disparities in patient safety by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and insurance status. Highlights disparities for maternal morbidity and mortality measures by rurality.
Author(s): Barbara Barton, Darryl Gray, Cecilia Hahn, et al.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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2024 National Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Measures Report
Evaluates the quality measures used across 26 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality reporting programs. Explores whether quality measure scores during the COVID-19 public health emergency (2020-2021) differed from expected trends. Analyzes how different population groups, including urban and rural residents, performed at a national level in order to inform future quality measure development and advance health equity. Provides statistics concerning participation and performance within Medicare quality reporting programs, including statistics specific to rural populations and facilities.
Additional links: Appendices ZIP File
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2024 Small Practice Eligibility and Participation Frequently Asked Questions
Provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding small practice participation and eligibility for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for the 2024 performance year. Covers individual and group eligibility, the low-volume threshold, changes to group composition during the performance year, and more.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Breast Cancer Screening among Medicare Advantage Enrollees with Dementia
Compares rates of mammogram screening among screening-eligible women with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) using 2012-2019 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data. Compares screening rates of Medicare Advantage and fee-for-service Medicare enrollees, with data breakdowns by race and ethnicity, rural versus urban status, and more. Identifies potential risks related to over-screening.
Author(s): Eli Raver, Wendy Y. Xu, Jean Jung, Sunmin Lee
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 24, 283
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
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Consensus-Based Entity 2023 Annual Report to Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services: Final Report
Summarizes the 2023 work of Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) to measure healthcare quality. Includes a discussion on engaging rural perspectives to consider the unique challenges experienced in rural communities.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Optimizing Postpartum Care in Rural Communities: Insights from Women in Arizona and Implications for Policy
Analyzes the postpartum care needs of women living in rural Arizona. Reports on interview feedback from 30 women structured around themes of maternity care and networks of care, structural support and systems, and health information and literacy. Discusses potential implications for policy and practice related to rural postpartum care.
Author(s): Abidemi Okechukwu, Priscilla Magrath, Halimatou Alaofe, et al.
Citation: Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28, 1148-1159
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Investments in Primary Care Research for 2021 and 2022
Provides an overview of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) primary care research investments in 2021 and 2022. Highlights rural grants, research programs, and care delivery models throughout.
Additional links: AHRQ's Recent Investments in Primary Care Research: At-a-Glance
Author(s): Jessie Gerteis, Ellen Childs, Bill Villalba, et al.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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The Rural Nursing Home Landscape
White paper describing the current rural nursing home landscape. Cover the importance of nursing homes in rural communities, the characteristics of these facilities, and the importance of future research to understand and prevent future nursing home closures.
Author(s): Nicole Galler, Casey P. Balio, Qian Huang, Kate Beatty
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Maternal Health in Rural America
White paper describing factors contributing to rural maternal health disparities, including financial barriers to providing obstetric services at rural hospitals, maternal health workforce shortages, access to care, and quality of care. Outlines policy considerations to increase access to maternal health services in rural areas.
Author(s): Hailey Waldman, Alexandra Zimmerman
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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