Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospice and palliative care
Rural Community-based Palliative Care: Improving Health and Reducing Disparities in Access and Services
Toolkit describing a framework for the development of rural community-based palliative care capacity and services. Includes information and links to resources regarding assessing community needs, foundational tools, process development, service implementation.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
Toolkit describing a framework for the development of rural community-based palliative care capacity and services. Includes information and links to resources regarding assessing community needs, foundational tools, process development, service implementation.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2021
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for healthcare facilities and services, improving Medicare payment for post-acute care, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and the impact of healthcare provider consolidation. Contains information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Medicare beneficiary healthcare access, mortality, and service use. Presents an option for Medicare's coverage of telehealth beyond the public health emergency.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for healthcare facilities and services, improving Medicare payment for post-acute care, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and the impact of healthcare provider consolidation. Contains information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Medicare beneficiary healthcare access, mortality, and service use. Presents an option for Medicare's coverage of telehealth beyond the public health emergency.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Sustainability Strategies for Community-based Palliative Care
Summarizes themes from two roundtable discussions conducted in late 2018 with 9 rural palliative care programs in Minnesota and surrounding states. Offers examples and resources for sustainability strategies to support community-based palliative care programs.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
Summarizes themes from two roundtable discussions conducted in late 2018 with 9 rural palliative care programs in Minnesota and surrounding states. Offers examples and resources for sustainability strategies to support community-based palliative care programs.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
Rural Community-Based Palliative Care: Final Report
Evaluates the outcomes of the Stratis Health Rural Community-Based Palliative Care Project, a 3-year project that provided financial and technical assistance to State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) in Washington, North Dakota, and Wisconsin that supported the implementation of palliative care programs in rural communities. Provides an overview of palliative care and barriers to palliative care in rural areas. Offers lessons learned that can be applied to existing palliative care efforts in rural communities.
Author(s): Alana Knudson, Jennifer Satorius, Kathleen Taylor
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
view details
Evaluates the outcomes of the Stratis Health Rural Community-Based Palliative Care Project, a 3-year project that provided financial and technical assistance to State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) in Washington, North Dakota, and Wisconsin that supported the implementation of palliative care programs in rural communities. Provides an overview of palliative care and barriers to palliative care in rural areas. Offers lessons learned that can be applied to existing palliative care efforts in rural communities.
Author(s): Alana Knudson, Jennifer Satorius, Kathleen Taylor
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
view details
January 2021 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2021 meeting. Features a discussion on the expansion of telehealth in Medicare. Also covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and the mandated report expanding the post-acute care transfer policy to hospice, physician and other health professional services, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, hospice services, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, long-term care hospital services, and CMMI's development and implementation of alternative payment models.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2021 meeting. Features a discussion on the expansion of telehealth in Medicare. Also covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and the mandated report expanding the post-acute care transfer policy to hospice, physician and other health professional services, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, hospice services, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, long-term care hospital services, and CMMI's development and implementation of alternative payment models.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Economics of Using Telemedicine to Supplement Hospice Care in Rural Areas
Describes a tele-hospice program implemented in 2015 by Hospice Services, Inc., a community-based hospice provider that serves rural and frontier counties in northwest and north central Kansas, in partnership with the University of Kansas Medical Center. Explores the financial impact of the tele-hospice intervention, comparing tele-hospice costs with costs of in-person services. Also identifies cost savings related to the use of virtual technology to conduct administrative meetings.
Author(s): Adam F. Lomenick, Sandy J. Kuhlman, Joe L. Barnes, et al.
Citation: Journal of Palliative Medicine, 24(10), 1461–1466
Date: 2021
Type: Document
view details
Describes a tele-hospice program implemented in 2015 by Hospice Services, Inc., a community-based hospice provider that serves rural and frontier counties in northwest and north central Kansas, in partnership with the University of Kansas Medical Center. Explores the financial impact of the tele-hospice intervention, comparing tele-hospice costs with costs of in-person services. Also identifies cost savings related to the use of virtual technology to conduct administrative meetings.
Author(s): Adam F. Lomenick, Sandy J. Kuhlman, Joe L. Barnes, et al.
Citation: Journal of Palliative Medicine, 24(10), 1461–1466
Date: 2021
Type: Document
view details
2021 Long-Term Support Services Telehealth Results Summary
Presents findings of a review of telehealth needs and challenges among long-term services and supports (LTSS) staff in Hawaii based on telephone interviews. Offers policy recommendations to support LTSS providers and family caregivers and highlights provider experiences before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Discusses use of telehealth technology, barriers to using telehealth, and desired support among nursing homes, care homes, home health agents, hospice providers, family caregivers, and rehabilitation service providers.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center
view details
Presents findings of a review of telehealth needs and challenges among long-term services and supports (LTSS) staff in Hawaii based on telephone interviews. Offers policy recommendations to support LTSS providers and family caregivers and highlights provider experiences before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Discusses use of telehealth technology, barriers to using telehealth, and desired support among nursing homes, care homes, home health agents, hospice providers, family caregivers, and rehabilitation service providers.
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center
view details
December 2020 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2020 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and the mandated report on expanding the post-acute care transfer policy to hospice, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, and a status report and benchmark policy option on the Medicare Advantage program. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2020 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and the mandated report on expanding the post-acute care transfer policy to hospice, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, and a status report and benchmark policy option on the Medicare Advantage program. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
October 2020 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) October 2020 meeting. Covers an alternative value incentive program that corrects current shortcomings for the skilled nursing facility value-based purchasing program; future research directions in hospice payment policy; balancing financial pressure and equity in Medicare Advantage benchmark policy; and current Medicare indirect medical education policy, concerns, and principles for revising. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 10/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) October 2020 meeting. Covers an alternative value incentive program that corrects current shortcomings for the skilled nursing facility value-based purchasing program; future research directions in hospice payment policy; balancing financial pressure and equity in Medicare Advantage benchmark policy; and current Medicare indirect medical education policy, concerns, and principles for revising. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 10/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Palliative Care Road Map: A Guide for Living with Serious Illness and Conditions for Patients and Those Who Care for Them
Explanation of the standard palliative care process and important considerations for the patient and/or caregivers in the state of Washington. Includes information on what to expect at healthcare appointments, legal considerations, definitions of common terms, related resources available in Washington, and more.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Office of Rural Health
view details
Explanation of the standard palliative care process and important considerations for the patient and/or caregivers in the state of Washington. Includes information on what to expect at healthcare appointments, legal considerations, definitions of common terms, related resources available in Washington, and more.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Office of Rural Health
view details