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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

Community Impact and Benefit Activities of Critical Access, Other Rural, and Urban Hospitals, 2020
Examines the economic and healthcare benefit of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) on rural communities. Looks at services provided, the economic health of CAHs, and the effect this has on their communities broadly. Includes comparisons of community benefit and patient care services indicators provided by CAHs and other rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Zachariah Croll, John Gale
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Northern Border Regional Commission State and Region Chartbooks: A Health-Focused Landscape Analysis
Webinar describing a project compiling the most recent publicly available data related to health and healthcare access at the county and state level for Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Discusses healthcare professional shortage areas and highlights counties with worse health outcomes than other counties in the region. Features statistics on demographics with breakdowns by rural location, socioeconomic characteristics, access to care, health outcomes and behaviors, community safety, death rates and top causes of death, internet access, insurance coverage, telehealth policies, scope of practice for various provider types, and maps showing Heath Professional Shortage Areas and locations of Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Critical Access Hospitals.
Additional links: Presentation Slides, Transcript
Author(s): Katherine Ahrens
Date: 06/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Maine Rural Health Research Center, Rural Health Research Gateway
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The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM): Second Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluates the second year of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), an initiative designed to test if global budgets can help rural hospitals improve their financial viability, provide flexibility to meet locally defined community health needs, and reduce overall healthcare spending. Provides an overview of the model and describes the implementation experience of participating hospitals and payers. Presents a descriptive quantitative assessment of financial performance, spending and utilization, access to care, and quality of care outcomes during the second performance year.
Additional links: Appendix, Findings at a Glance
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Hospital Inpatient PPS and the Long-term Care Hospital PPS for FY 2023
Comments on a May 10, 2022, Federal Register proposed rule revising the hospital inpatient and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment systems (PPS). Discusses proposals on rate-setting in both the inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) and LTCH PPS, promoting stability in the IPPS and LTCH PPS, creating a permanent supplemental payment for Puerto Rico and Indian Health Service (IHS) hospitals, establishing a payment adjustment for domestic N95 respirators, adding new measures to the LTCH quality reporting program, and establishing overarching principles for measuring equity and health care quality disparities across CMS quality programs.
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2022
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Chapter 2 presents a report on access to care for beneficiaries in Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, or have multiple chronic conditions. Also includes chapters on alternative payment models, safety net providers, the cost of drugs covered under Medicare Part B, the accuracy of Medicare Advantage payments, the alignment of fee-for-service payment rates across ambulatory settings, and segmentation in the stand-alone Part D plan market.
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Supporting Critical Access Hospital Staff during COVID-19
Presents summaries of initiatives taken in three Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to support staff during the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to child care, stress and well-being, and work flexibility. Discusses similarities across these programs and offers considerations for CAHs interested in implementing similar initiatives.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Megan Lahr, Shehrose Charania, Ira Moscovice
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Telemedicine Adoption for Heart Attack and Stroke Care Among Rural and Urban Hospitals: A Longitudinal Study
Examines the adoption of telemedicine for cardiac and stroke care in rural and urban hospitals between 2012 and 2017. Analyzes indicators for telemedicine adoption with a focus on hospital profitability and geographic location. Includes data on 4,108 hospitals across the U.S., such as academic centers, Critical Access Hospitals, and general medical, among other hospital types, as well as breakdowns of hospital characteristics by rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Amir Alishahi Tabriz, Kea Turner, Dunc Williams Jr., et al.
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 28(6), 781-788
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
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Small Rural Hospital and Clinic Finance 101
Provides a manual with introductory information on healthcare facility finances and payment for state Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program personnel, Critical Access Hospital (CAH) staff and board members, small rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, and provider-based rural health clinics (RHC).
Date: 06/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Higher Electronic Health Record Functionality Is Associated with Lower Operating Costs in Urban—but Not Rural—Hospitals
Explores the relationship between electronic health record (EHR) use and functionality and hospital operating costs. Examines the effects of different categories of EHR functionality on general, inpatient, and outpatient costs. Compares the relationship between EHR functionality and operating costs across urban and rural hospitals.
Author(s): Claudia A. Rhoades, Brian E. Whitacre, Alison F. Davis
Citation: Applied Clinical Informatics, 13(3), 665-676
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
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DRCHSD Spotlight on Henry County Medical Center
Discusses how the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program and the Henry County Medical Center in Tennessee assemble a group of diverse community partners to identify and address the behavioral health gaps in their community.
Date: 05/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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