Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

MedPAC Report to the Congress: Physician Supervision Requirements in Critical Access Hospitals and Small Rural Hospitals
Provides background information on Medicare physician supervision requirements, and examines how enforcement of these requirements impacts access to care, quality of care, and staffing needs in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and small rural hospitals. Findings are based on interviews with CMS officials, hospital association representatives, and CAH administrators in several states.
Date: 12/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Rural Long-Term Services and Supports: A Primer
Discusses the basics of rural long-term services and supports (LTSS) for older adults including system fundamentals, access, and opportunities and limitations of current policy. Includes models for rural LTSS and suggests priority areas for a high-performing rural health delivery system.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, Erin M. Mobley
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee Pilot Program Report
Reports on the initial results of using a "hub and spoke" model in Georgia to help address rural hospital financial pressures and emergency department overuse. Highlights the progress made by the initial four hub hospitals and the spokes, which included school-based healthcare and Federally Qualified Health Centers. Additional link provides performance metrics for the pilot.
Additional links: Profile for Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee (Data from SFY 2016 Phase 1 Pilot Program)
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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Contextualizing Obesity and Diabetes Policy: Exploring a Nested Statistical and Constructivist Approach at the Cross-National and Subnational Government Level in the United States and Brazil
Compares state and rural municipal governments in Mississippi and Brazil in their use of infrastructural resources to facilitate adoption of obesity and diabetes policy.
Author(s): Eduardo J. Gomez
Citation: International Journal of Health Policy Management, 6(11), 639-648.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
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Tobacco Use and Health Insurance Literacy Among Vulnerable Populations: Implications for Health Reform
Results of a study examining health insurance literacy among tobacco users, with data collected from 631 lower-income, predominantly minority residents of rural Virginia. Features statistics on insurance choice and cost, age, race, education, and tobacco use.
Author(s): Robert T. Braun, Yaniv Hanoch, Andrew J. Barnes
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 17, 729
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
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Pain in the Nation: The Drug, Alcohol and Suicide Crises and the Need for a National Resilience Strategy
Examines current trends, causes, costs, and potential solutions to the drug, alcohol, and suicide crises in the U.S. Includes rural data and discussion of rural-specific issues.
Author(s): Laura M. Segal, Anne De Biasi, Jennifer L. Mueller, Kendra May, Molly Warren
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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Emerging Strategies to Ensure Access to Health Care Services: Emergency Medical Center
Provides an overview of the emergency medical center (EMC) model, which would allow struggling hospitals to convert to EMC status and provide emergency and outpatient services, without having to provide inpatient acute care services. Also outlines rural-specific federal policy proposals that seek to create similar hospital designations, with the goal of improving access to and the delivery of care in underserved communities.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Emerging Strategies to Ensure Access to Health Care Services: Frontier Health System
Discusses the challenges of providing care in frontier communities and offers solutions for improving access to and delivery of care. Proposes the creation of a frontier-specific accountable care organization (ACO), the Frontier Health System (FHS), that provides traditional ACO services along with transportation, swing beds, home-based care, expanded visiting nurse services, and more.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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The Front Lines of the Opioid Crisis: Perspectives from States, Communities, and Providers
Video recording details the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on the opioid epidemic. Features testimony detailing efforts to combat opioid addiction from representatives of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry; the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals; the Wisconsin Prescription Drug Monitoring Program; and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
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Distribution of Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments to Rural and Critical Access Hospitals
Provides information concerning the potential effects of Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payment on rural hospitals in 47 states. Features statistics on hospital Medicaid DSH payments by state and census region, with breakdowns for urban, rural, and Critical Access Hospitals.
Author(s): Erin M. Mobley, Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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