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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

Environmental Scan on Identifying a Pathway Toward Maximizing Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models
Presents results of an environmental scan on the identification of a pathway toward maximizing participation in population-based total cost of care (PB-TCOC) models. Describes the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services's (CMS's) goal of having all Medicare beneficiaries with Parts A and B in accountable care relationships by 2030. Discusses challenges and technical issues related to maximizing participation in PB-TCOC models, including organizational structure, payment, and risk adjustment. Summarizes relevant features of CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models identified in previous Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) proposals. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communication to Improve Rural Health: A Systematic Review
Provides a literature review of trials and observational studies focused on telehealth-supported provider-to-provider collaboration to improve rural population health. Includes 2010-2021 search results of available telehealth studies and focuses on themes such as use, effectiveness, and implementation.
Author(s): Annette M Totten, Dana M Womack, Jessica C Griffin, et al.
Citation: Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 30(8), 1209-1363
Date: 09/2024
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Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS): 2024 What's New for Small Practices
Summarizes new elements of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for small practices - a group of 15 or fewer clinicians billing under a practice's Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) - during the 2024 performance year. Discusses changes to performance category requirements and flexibilities, new MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), and performance threshold and payment adjustments. Includes information on performance category redistribution policies for small practices.
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Remote Patient Monitoring for Rural Michigan Hospitals
Discusses the usefulness of remote patient monitoring (RPM) as a way supplement access to healthcare treatment in Michigan and provides an overview of how to successfully implement an RPM program in rural hospitals. Includes best practices for RPM, with a focus on implementation, measuring and reporting, governance, and more.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Michigan Center for Rural Health
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Rurality and Patients' Hospital Experience: A Multisite Analysis from a US Healthcare System
Explores the relationship between the patient experience at a Midwestern hospital system and patients' rurality of residence using data from completed Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) surveys between 2016 and 2019. Analyzes data for global, composite, and individual HCAHPS measures by hospital and patient characteristics.
Author(s): Iman Fawad, Karen M. Fischer, Hanieh Sadat Tabatabaei Yeganeh, et al.
Citation: PLoS One, 19(8), e0308564
Date: 08/2024
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Hospital Accreditation Status and Treatment Differences among Black Patients with Colon Cancer
Examines likelihood of receiving guideline-concordant care and risk of mortality for Black patients with colon cancer at Commission on Cancer (CoC) accredited hospitals relative to non-CoC accredited hospitals. Utilizes 2019-2020 United States Cancer Statistics database data. Includes data on the association between patient characteristics, including rurality, and attendance at accredited versus nonaccredited hospitals.
Author(s): Kelley Chan, Bryan E. Palis, Joseph H. Cotler, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 7(8), e2429563
Date: 08/2024
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Customer Perceptions of Critical Access Hospitals in Illinois: Insights from User Generated Contents from Google and Yelp
Examines Google and Yelp reviews of the 54 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Illinois. Provides data on quality measures, customer ratings, and general information on Illinois CAHs.
Author(s): Adee Athiyaman
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
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Safety Net Primary Care Capabilities After the COVID-19 Pandemic
Examines the ability of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) versus non-FQHCs to provide safety net care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzes 1,245 primary care practices, focusing on their characteristics such as census region and ownership, as well as their safety net care services, such as screening for social needs or ability to provide opioid treatment. Discusses the importance of FQHCs to access quality primary care, particularly for rural populations.
Author(s): Karen E. Schifferdecker, Ching-Wen W. Yang, Matthew B. Mackwood, et al.
Citation: JAMA Health Forum, 5(8)
Date: 08/2024
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Integrated Behavioral Health Implementation and Chronic Disease Management Inequities: An Exploratory Study of Statewide Data
Examines associations between the use of integrated behavioral health (IBH) and quality of asthma, diabetes, and vascular disease management at 102 primary care clinics in Minnesota. Analyzes how rurality, racial profile of clinical location, and patient socioeconomic status interact with IBH adoption and quality of chronic disease management.
Author(s): Gretchen J. R. Buchanan, Jerica M. Berge, Timothy F. Piehler
Citation: BMC Primary Care, 25, 302
Date: 08/2024
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Advocate-BREAST: Advocates and Patients' Advice to Enhance Breast Cancer Care Delivery, Patient Experience and Patient Centered Research by 2025
Examines breast cancer (BC) survivor experiences with BC care delivery, education, and support received. Analyzes 2,437 responses from a 2021 survey of patients in the Mayo Clinic Breast Disease Registry, with data breakdowns of respective patient perspectives, concerns, and symptoms by sociodemographic variables, including rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Ciara C. O'Sullivan, Nicole L. Larson, Robert A. Vierkant, et al.
Citation: Archives of Public Health, 82, 119
Date: 08/2024
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