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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

Delivery System Reform and Implications for Rural Communities
Policy brief discussing how rural healthcare providers can benefit from participating in delivery system reform (DSR) to be able to continue providing accessible, quality health services. Offers recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, such as requiring rural healthcare providers to participate in CMS quality programs and having CMS incorporate rural-relevant quality measures that are appropriate for rural healthcare providers.
Date: 12/2015
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Critical Access Hospital-Relevant Measures for Health System Development and Population Health
Describes performance measures for assessing health system development and population health in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Discusses how the measures can help CAHs and other stakeholders benchmark and improve performance.
Author(s): John Gale, Andrew Coburn, Zach Croll
Date: 12/2015
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Characteristics and Quality of Inpatient Stays at Hospitals Affiliated with Health Systems, 2009-2012
Compares hospitals in centrally organized multihospital systems, noncentralized systems, and independent hospitals. Looks at rural-urban location, region, bed size, other hospital and patient characteristics, and mortality rates for selected conditions.
Author(s): Brian Moore, Zeynal Karaca, Rachel Mosher Henke, Herbert Wong
Date: 12/2015
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Impact of Financial and Operational Interventions Funded by the Flex Program
Analyzes the impact of Flex Program sponsorship and associated financial and operational activities on the financial performance of Critical Access Hospitals.
Author(s): Rebecca G. Whitaker, George H. Pink, G. Mark Holmes
Date: 11/2015
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Secondary Overtriage in a Statewide Rural Trauma System
Analyzes secondary overtriage in West Virginia hospitals to determine the efficiency of a statewide rural trauma system. Table 1 details non-transfer and transfer patient characteristics and table 5 details factors linked with secondary overtriage.
Author(s): Jorge Con, Dustin Long, Emily Sasala, et al.
Citation: Journal of Surgical Research, 198(2), 462-467
Date: 10/2015
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Which Rural and Urban Hospitals Have Received Readmission Penalties Over Time?
Evaluates the rural-urban differences in the proportion of hospitals that receive penalties under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Readmission Reduction Program, and compares the specific health condition risk-adjusted readmission rates by rural and urban location. Analyzes characteristics of hospitals receiving readmission penalties.
Author(s): Peiyin Hung, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice
Date: 10/2015
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Rural Hospital and Physician Participation in Private Sector Quality Initiatives
Results of a study to analyze 12 quality reporting and quality improvement programs being used by dominant insurers in Alabama, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Utah, between 2011 and 2013.
Author(s): Amanda Diehl, Michelle Casey, Alex Evenson
Date: 10/2015
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Hospital Value-based Purchasing: Initial Results Show Modest Effects on Medicare Payments and No Apparent Change in Quality-of-Care Trends
Evaluates the initial effects of the Hospital Value-based Purchasing (HVBP) program on Medicare bonus payments and penalties, the quality of care provided, and selected quality improvement efforts during FY 2013-15. Analyzes data from safety net, small urban, and small rural hospitals.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2015
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Disparities in Patterns of Health Care Travel Among Inpatients Diagnosed With Congestive Heart Failure, Florida, 2011
Investigates the nonclinical factors that motivate patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to travel greater distances to seek treatment rather than utilize their local hospital service area. Study was based on 2011 individual hospital discharge data and analyzes the odds of local hospitalization and various predictors of travel time including race, ethnicity, payer, severity of the condition, and rural/urban patient location.
Author(s): Peng Jia, Imam M. Xierali
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease,12
Date: 09/2015
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Evidence-Based Programs and Strategies for Reducing Healthcare-Associated Infections in Critical Access Hospitals
Highlights successful, evidence-based programs and approaches that Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may use to curb healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Shailendra Prasad, Emma Distel, Alex Evenson
Date: 09/2015
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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