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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

Trends in Patient Perceptions of Care Toward Rural and Urban Hospitals in the United States: 2014-2019
Examines patients' perceptions of care in hospitals located in urban, rural non-frontier and remote (FAR), and FAR areas. Analyzes 2014-2019 data from 6,964 hospitals to rate patients' perceptions of their quality of care, considering factors such as quietness and cleanliness of hospital, communication with healthcare staff, discharge information, care transition, and willingness to recommend hospital.
Author(s): Zhong Li, Vivian Ho, Melinda A. Merrell, Peiyin Hung
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(3), 565-573
Date: 06/2024
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Medicare Claims Processing Manual Chapter 4 - Part B Hospital (Including Inpatient Hospital Part B and OPPS)
Outlines rules and regulations for processing Medicare Part B hospital claims. Covers special rules for Critical Access Hospital outpatient billing, hospital-based Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) billing for non-RHC/FQHC services, and payment adjustments for Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs).
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Rural Emergency Hospitals
Provides an overview of the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) program and the statutory requirements for facilities seeking REH designation. Outlines state laws that established REH licensure.
Date: 06/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Remote Patient Monitoring at a Rural FQHC
Presentation slides that discuss remote patient monitoring (RPM) at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in western North Dakota. Provides information on North Dakota Health Center locations, Critical Access Hospital (CAH) locations, and referral centers, as well as strategies for implementing RPM.
Author(s): Amber Brady
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Great Plains Telehealth Resource and Assistance Center
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Prevalence of Hospital Readmission in Illinois Counties, 2007-2022
Examines hospital readmission rates in Illinois that happened within a 30-day period from initial discharge. Analyzes 2007-2022 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data to observe county-level as well as metro versus nonmetro changes in readmission rates.
Author(s): Adee Athiyaman
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
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The Implications of Using Maternity Care Deserts to Measure Progress in Access to Obstetric Care: A Mixed-Integer Optimization Analysis
Compares geographic access to critical care obstetric (CCO) services in Georgia via a county-level maternal care desert model versus a model of census blocks further than 50 miles from CCO services. Uses each model to estimate how expansion of facilities would affect access to care, and also to estimate race and ethnicity, insurance status, age, and poverty rate of reproductive-aged women with limited access to care using 2017 American Community Survey data.
Author(s): Meghan E. Meredith, Lauren N. Steimle, Stephanie M. Radke
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 24, 682
Date: 05/2024
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CMS Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model: Fifth Annual Evaluation Report
Fifth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Explores the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 4. Describes changes to the model that were implemented in Model Year 4 and how BPCI Advanced relates to Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Analyzes BPCI Advanced outcomes for beneficiaries from populations that have been historically underserved. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Senate Finance Committee Bipartisan Medicare GME Working Group Draft Proposal Outline and Questions for Consideration
Outlines draft policy proposals regarding the Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program aimed at addressing healthcare workforce shortages. Proposals cover the distribution of Medicare GME slots to rural areas and key specialties, encouraging hospitals to train physicians in rural areas, the establishment of a Medicare GME Policy Council, GME data collection and transparency, and more. Includes questions for consideration on policies under consideration.
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Payment System for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities for FY 2025
Comment on an April 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule revising the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) for fiscal year 2025. Includes a discussion of rural IPF PPS payment adjustments.
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Interoperable Exchange of Patient Health Information Among U.S. Hospitals: 2023
Presents data on the degree to which hospitals engage in the four domains of interoperable exchange - send, receive, find, and integrate - as of 2023 and describes trends between 2018 and 2023. Analyzes the frequency that non-federal acute care hospitals engaged in interoperable exchange by hospital characteristics, including hospital size, system affiliation status, rural or urban location, and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation. Describes hospitals' ability to exchange electronic health information with other providers across the care continuum and how clinicians use this information about the point of care.
Author(s): Meghan Hufstader Gabriel, Chelsea Richwine, Catherine Strawley, Wesley Barker, Jordan Everson
Date: 05/2024
Sponsoring organization: Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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