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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

Rural Health Research in Progress in the Rural Health Research Centers Program, 10th Edition
Summarizes rural health services research conducted by the Rural Health Research Centers Program of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
Date: 02/2006
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Hospital Quality Data: CMS Needs More Rigorous Methods to Ensure Reliability of Publicly Released Data
Describes how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) collects hospital quality measures and ways the process could be improved to better ensure the accuracy of the data. Discusses how rural and urban hospital accuracy scores compare.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2006
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Public Health Preparedness: Integrating Public Health and Hospital Preparedness Programs
Examines different models for coordination that local health departments and general acute-care hospitals have employed to improve public health preparedness. Includes discussion of rural issues.
Author(s): Lois M. Davis, Jeanne S. Ringel, Sarah K. Cotton, et al.
Date: 2006
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Pharmacist Staffing and the Use of Technology in Small Rural Hospitals: Implications for Medication Safety
Assesses the capacity of rural hospitals to implement medication safety practices. Focuses on pharmacist staffing and the availability of technology.
Additional links: Policy Brief (January 2006)
Author(s): Michelle M. Casey, Ira Moscovice, Gestur Davidson
Date: 12/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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Trends in Skilled Nursing and Swing-bed Use in Rural Areas, 1996-2003
Examines trends in the delivery of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services in rural areas during a period of dramatic change in Medicare payments. Focuses on the role of rural hospitals in providing SNF services, as a number of regulatory changes occurred between 1998 and 2002 that could potentially influence hospital provision of skilled nursing care.
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Jeongyoung Park, Ann Howard, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 12/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Assessing the Financial Effect of Medicare Payment on Rural Hospitals: Does the Source of Data Change the Results?
Describes how predictions of changes in hospital financial performance as a result of change in Medicare payment differ when comparing results using data from the Medicare Cost Report (MCR) to results using data from the audited hospital financial statement.
Author(s): Li-Wu Chen, Susan Puumala, Keith J. Mueller, et al.
Date: 11/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Rural Hospitals and Spanish Speaking Patients with Limited English Proficiency
Explores how rural hospitals are meeting the needs of patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), based on a survey of rural hospitals in counties with large established Latino populations and counties with high growth in Latino population between 1990 and 2000. Describes language services provided. Identifies barriers and strengths for providing these services.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Author(s): Myriam E. Torres, Deborah Parra-Medina, Amy Brock Martin, et al.
Date: 10/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Mental Health Encounters in Critical Access Hospital Emergency Rooms: A National Survey
Examines the extent to which Critical Access Hospital (CAH) emergency rooms are used as a mental health safety net. Investigates the types of cases that present with mental health problems, as well as the resources available to emergency room staff in CAHs for addressing such problems.
Additional links: Research and Policy Brief: Smallest Rural Hospitals Treat Mental Health Emergencies
Author(s): David Hartley, Erika Ziller, Stephenie Loux, et al.
Date: 09/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Revisions to Medicare's Disproportionate Share Payment Policy to Incorporate Bad Debt and Charity Care
Investigates the impact of possible changes to the Medicare disproportionate share (DSH) payment policy, designed to incorporate information on the hospital's uncompensated care burden as well as to improve the payment formula. These analyses are intended to help policymakers evaluate the likely impact of revising the DSH payment methodology.
Author(s): Julie A. Schoenman, Janet P. Sutton, Lan Zhao
Date: 09/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Issues in a Modernized Medicare Program, 2005
Examines issues affecting the Medicare program. Addresses Part D, Medicare's new outpatient prescription drug benefit, with some coverage of rural issues. Includes overview of the Medicare Advantage program. Discusses the effects of the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA).
Date: 06/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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