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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Improving Efficiency and Preserving Access to Emergency Care in Rural Areas
Slides that provide background on rural hospital payment policy and strategies to preserve access to emergency care in rural areas. Discusses existing payment models and benefits and drawbacks of different models.
Author(s): Jeff Stensland, Zach Gaumer
Date: 04/2016
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Minutes, Beaufort, South Carolina, April 18-20, 2016
Provides a summary of the 79th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), which was held in Beaufort, South Carolina. The meeting focused on two main topics: alternative models to preserving access to emergency care in rural areas in the face of hospital closures and the abuse of prescription painkillers and opioids.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations: April 2016
Annual report identifying the top 25 unimplemented recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that, in OIG's view, would have the most substantial positive impact on Health and Human Services (HHS) programs. Positive impact may refer to cost savings, program efficacy and efficiency, and/or quality improvement. Primary area of interest in the April 2016 edition relates to coinsurance calculations for outpatient services received at Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Adverse Childhood Experiences in Rural and Urban Contexts
Reports on a study analyzing the prevalence of rural individual adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the level of exposure to ACEs in rural regions, and the rural-urban differences of exposure to ACEs by adults using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
Author(s): Jean Talbot, Donald Szlosek, Erika C. Ziller
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Rural Communities in Crisis: Strategies to Address the Opioid Crisis
Policy brief describing the effects of the opioid and heroin crisis in rural areas. Covers challenges to rural healthcare organizations combating this issue, and identifies and discusses policy recommendations for addressing the opioid and heroin crisis in rural communities and in rural healthcare systems.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Dave Schmitz, Michael Meit, et al.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Compacts of Free Association: Issues Associated with Implementation in Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands
Examines potential impact of proposed legislation approving the 2010 Palau agreement, which would provide financial assistance for education and health services through 2024. Summarizes and updates reports issued from 2007-2013.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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10 Strategies for Rural North Carolina's Future
Includes strategies for stabilizing and transforming healthcare in rural North Carolina, by facilitating transition to accountable care communities, strengthening efforts to reduce drug addiction, stabilizing health system revenue, and supporting establishment of a state chapter of the National Rural Health Association.
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Center
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Process Evaluation of the Older Americans Act Title III-E National Family Caregiver Support Program: Final Report
Reports on an evaluation of the National Family Caregiving Support Program and how it is helping people age in their own homes and communities. Includes a literature review on informal caregiving, a description of the evaluation methodology, and evaluation results. Covers the extent of, impact of, and supports for informal caregiving, as well as special issues such as caring for those with dementia and mental illness. Discusses the policies in place and includes data breakdowns for rural and frontier areas.
Date: 03/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Administration for Community Living, Lewin Group
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Evaluation of the Shared Decision Making (SDM) & Medication Management (MM) Health Care Innovation Awardees: Second Annual Report
Evaluations of 9 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on implementing shared decision making or medication management programs. Provides findings across projects as well as profiles of each project. Includes medication management projects focused on rural areas.
Date: 03/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Acumen, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Evaluation of Health Care Innovation Awards (HCIA): Primary Care Redesign Programs, Second Annual Report
Second annual evaluations of 14 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on primary care redesign, addressing a range of intervention models, target populations, and organizational settings. Discusses common experiences across projects and profiles each project. Includes 2 rural-focused projects and 7 additional projects that included services to rural areas.
Date: 03/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica Policy Research
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