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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Medicare Physician Payment Reform After Two Years: Examining MACRA Implementation and the Road Ahead
Provides a recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on physician payment reforms under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Features testimonies about what is working well and challenges faced, including provisions and challenges for small and rural practices. Contains testimonies from the American Medical Association, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Medical Group Association, and Brookings Institution.
Additional links: American Medical Association Testimony, John Cullen Testimony, Scott Hines Testimony
Date: 05/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
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Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act: Making Electronic Health Information Available to Patients and Providers, Part II
A recording of a hearing from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, which is intended to improve interoperability of electronic health records. Addresses requirements that would impact healthcare facilities, including rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals. Offers testimony from the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.
Additional links: Kate Goodrich Testimony
Date: 05/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Federally Supported Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Programs
Examines federal funding for water and wastewater treatment programs, including those specific to rural areas. Discusses the differences in funding mechanisms and how appropriations for discretionary spending has varied.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Toward a High Performing Rural Health Care System: Key Issues and Recommendations from Rural Health Care System Innovators
Summarizes key themes and recommendations from a meeting of rural health leaders regarding innovations in rural healthcare financing and service delivery to inform state and national policy discussions. Offers recommendations, examples, and discussion on 3 areas: financing rural health system innovation, creating an infrastructure to support rural health innovation, and promoting governance models that support innovation.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Charlie Alfero, Andrew F. Coburn, et al.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Review of the FY2020 Budget Request for the Indian Health Service
Provides a recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing and statements regarding the FY2020 budget request for the Indian Health Service. Discussions address budget justifications, information on IHS services provided, and plans for the FY2020 year, including additional funding for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C treatment and prevention.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
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Pain Management for People with Serious Illness in the Context of the Opioid Use Disorder Epidemic: Proceedings of a Workshop
Reports on a workshop with multiple stakeholders discussing pain management in the context of the opioid misuse epidemic. Reviews the opioid epidemic, how responses to it have affected people with serious illness and pain, the pain management needs of people with substance use disorder, policy responses, and next steps. Includes a few examples from rural areas and addresses some challenges specific to rural.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Promising Practice: Innovative Program Teaches Colorado Providers to Be Rural Leaders
Highlights the Colorado Rural Health Center's (CRHC) Rural Colorado Primary Care Leaders (RCPCL) Program that works to educate rural primary care providers to become advocates for their rural patients and communities. Discusses program funding, and RCPCL training and education requirements. Provides details on the RCPCL Capstone project involving meetings at the state capital with local representatives and the state health committee.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Isolated, Small, and Large Hospitals Have Fewer Nursing Resources than Urban Hospitals: Implications for Rural Health Policy
Describes the nurse work environment, nurse education, nursing skill mix, and patient-to-registered nurse (RN) ratios across hospitals in California, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Examines how the findings differ by urban, large, small, and isolated hospitals, and discusses the potential impact on patient outcomes.
Author(s): Jessica G. Smith, Colin M. Plover, Moira C. McChesney, Eileen T. Lake
Citation: Public Health Nursing, 36(4), 469-477
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Summary, Sacramento, California, April 3-5, 2019
Summarizes the 85th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), which was held in Sacramento, California. Presents an overview of national and state perspectives on the meeting's two areas of focus: rural cancer prevention and control and supportive services for older adults.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Geographic Variation in Spatial Accessibility of U.S. Healthcare Providers
Examines spatial accessibility and other factors of accessibility for key physician and non-physician groups, including primary care physicians, specialists, nurse practitioners, and chiropractors in rural and urban locations, using geospatial methods. Population data, Medicare claims, provider location, professional school location, and U.S. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) were used in the analyses.
Author(s): Keith B. Naylor, Joshua Tooto, Olga Yakusheva, et al.
Citation: PLoS One, 14(4)
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
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