Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Critical Access Hospitals: Strategies and Success Stories
Recording of a November 20, 2019, webinar discussing evidence-based infection control techniques and strategies to improve antibiotic prescribing in rural hospitals. Highlights antibiotic stewardship success stories from Critical Access Hospitals. Transcript available in the video description.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
view details
Evaluation of the Million HeartsĀ® Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model: Second Annual Report
Evaluates the first two years of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model to determine whether, and how, it reduces first-time strokes, heart attacks, and Medicare spending. Covers participant characteristics, including rural or urban status and organization type; implementation of the model; short- and long-term impacts on beneficiaries; and the potential mechanisms that may explain observed impacts.
Author(s): Greg Peterson, Linda Barterian, Keith Kranker, et al.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica Policy Research
view details
Rural Primary Care Providers' Attitudes Towards Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Midwestern State in the USA
Discusses current attitudes of primary care providers practicing in rural Michigan toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and identifies any correlation of attitudes that may influence the quality of healthcare.
Author(s): Akshay Sharma, John C. Shaver, Rob B. Stephenson
Citation: Rural and Remote Health,19(4), 5476
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
view details
Advancing Health Equity Through Community Health Workers and Peer Providers: Mounting Evidence and Policy Recommendations
Reviews the results from 9 studies funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute supporting the inclusion of community health workers (CHWs) and peer providers (PPs) as effective participants in addressing health and healthcare inequities, particularly for diverse communities. Each study presented focuses on a distinct function of utilizing CHWs and/or PPS such as mentoring, managing chronic conditions, and navigator support for serious mental illness and depression. Discusses why payers and providers should include CHWs and PPS in a variety of capacities to improve outcomes, add value to care, and control costs.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Families USA
view details
Quality Measures for Critical Access Hospital Swing-Bed Patients
Policy brief describing a study to identify quality measures for Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing-bed patients, focused on outcome and functional status measures. Includes information from key informant interviews on discharge disposition and 30-day follow-up status.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice, Henry Stabler
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Cascades of Care After Incidental Findings in a US National Survey of Physicians
Results of a study estimating the national frequency and consequences of cascades of testing and treatment after incidental findings on screening and diagnostic tests. Features statistics including physician characteristics associated with self-reported harm from cascades, with breakdowns by practice location in urban, suburban, or rural areas.
Author(s): Ishani Ganguli, Arabella L. Simpkin, Claire Lupo
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 2(10)
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
view details
Antibiotic Stewardship Implementation: Suggested Strategies from High Performing Critical Access Hospitals
Describes antibiotic stewardship (AS) best practices identified through focus groups of 34 high performing Critical Access Hospitals across 25 states. Provides an overview of focus group findings on the seven core elements of hospital AS and identifies recurring themes.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
Russell County Hospital Listens to their Community to Improve Transitions of Care
Highlights quality improvement activities underway at a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in rural Kentucky. Discusses community collaboration efforts, expansion of specialty services, renovations, a focus on staff satisfaction, and care coordination activities.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
view details
Serving Rural America: Health Insurance Providers at Work
Offers 5 case studies to showcase the ways in which health insurance providers are working to ensure access to high quality healthcare in rural areas. Examples feature 8 insurance providers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and Oregon sharing different approaches to healthcare delivery, financing, and community engagement.
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AHIP
view details
Hospital Merger Benefits: Views from Hospital Leaders and Econometric Analysis - An Update
Revisits a study from 2016 on the effects of hospital acquisitions in terms of cost, care quality, and revenue. Highlights data by hospital type, including rural status, as well as several performance measures.
Author(s): Monica Noether, Sean May, Ben Stearns
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
view details