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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

Validation of Prognostic Scales for Functional Outcome in Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated with Intravenous Thrombolysis in a Rural Setting
Examines the efficacy of prognostic tools for stroke recovery in a rural setting, utilizing data of 279 stroke patients who received thrombolytic therapy at the Southern Illinois Healthcare Stroke Network from July 2017 to June 2024. Provides data on the performance of the DRAGON, MRI-DRAGON, and S-TPI tools in predicting positive and negative patient outcomes.
Author(s): Andrea Loggini, Faddi G Saleh Velez, Jonatan Hornik, et al.
Citation: Cerebrovascular Diseases Extra, 14(1), 148-157
Date: 10/2024
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Northern Maine Medical Center: A Rural Hospital Gaining Momentum in its Work Toward Quality Improvement
Profiles a prospective payment hospital in northern Maine that engaged in the 2022-2023 Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project (RHPTP), focusing on financial sustainability, cost efficiency, and quality improvement. Highlights hospital accomplishments and improvements via participation of the project.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Hospital Differences in Adult Inpatient Stays with Healthcare-Associated Infections, 2019 and 2021
Examines the rate of adult inpatient hospital stays involving five healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in 2019 and 2021. Presents data from an analysis of 2019 and 2021 State Inpatient Databases (SID) from public, non-federal acute-care hospitals across 38 states by hospital characteristics, including ownership, rural or urban location, safety-net designation, and Critical Access Hospital designation.
Author(s): Melissa A. Miller, Leyi Lin, David P. Calfee, Amy Gehrke, Alex Bohl
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Demographic-Based Disparities in Outcomes for Adults with Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in the United States: A National Inpatient Sample Database Study (2016–2020)
Analyzes cost, length of stay, and mortality for hospitalized adults with central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), utilizing 2016-2020 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data. Provides data on differences in care conditions by race and ethnicity, region, and rural versus urban location and teaching versus non-teaching hospital status.
Author(s): Marie Dix, Troy Belleville, Anjali Mishra, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Medicine, 11
Date: 10/2024
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Health Center Performance Improvement Toolkit
Offers a framework to support health center performance improvement and health outcomes across seven domains. Includes a guide to self-assessment to help health centers assess their current performance in each domain, describe future performance goals, and identify how to reach and sustain improved performance. Offers self-assessment tools, including fillable checklists for each domain, progress snapshot worksheets, and example improvement activities.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Primary Health Care
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Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS): 2025 MIPS Payment Year (2023 Performance Year) - Payment Adjustment User Guide
Provides information on Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) payment adjustments for calendar year 2025. Describes how 2023 MIPS scores relate to 2025 payment adjustments and how payment adjustments are applied. Offers answers to frequently asked questions.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS): 2024 Reporting Options Comparison Resource
Provides an overview of the similarities and differences among the three Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting options: Traditional MIPS, MIPS Value Pathways (MVP), and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Performance Pathway (APP). Designed to help providers understand which reporting options may be best for their practice. Includes information on reporting flexibilities and scoring for small and rural practices.
Additional links: 2024 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) At-A-Glance Reporting Options for Small Practices
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Medicare Payment Basics: Accountable Care Organizations Payment Systems
Provides an overview of Medicare's Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs. Discusses the payment mechanics of ACOs, including the maximum shared savings and losses of Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs by track and level.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Rural Hospital Performance in Guideline-Recommended Ischemic Stroke Thrombolysis, Secondary Prevention, and Outcomes
Examines the performance of rural versus urban stroke center and non-stroke center hospitals in delivering guideline-recommended ischemic stroke thrombolysis, providing secondary prevention, and producing favorable outcomes among patients treated for acute ischemic stroke. Utilizes 2017-2019 Get With the Guidelines-Stroke hospital data of 692,839 patients.
Author(s): Shumei Man, David Bruckman, Ken Uchino, et al.
Citation: Stroke, 55(10), 2472-2481
Date: 09/2024
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Diagnostic Excellence in U.S. Rural Healthcare: A Call to Action
Issue brief exploring challenges to diagnostic quality in rural healthcare. Provides an overview of the topic of diagnostic errors in rural settings, and provides suggestions related to resource and workforce limitations, access to care, care coordination and other service delivery models, and social determinants of health.
Author(s): Kisha J. Ali, Nick J. Galvez, Sarah Craig, et al.
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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