Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2015
Includes chapters on coordinating Medicare policy across payment models, Part B drug payment policy, value-based incentives for managing Part B drug use, multiple drug use including opioids among Medicare Part D enrollees, hospital short-stays, and new methods of measuring quality of care. Rural hospitals, rural referral centers, and rural patient populations are discussed throughout this report.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Includes chapters on coordinating Medicare policy across payment models, Part B drug payment policy, value-based incentives for managing Part B drug use, multiple drug use including opioids among Medicare Part D enrollees, hospital short-stays, and new methods of measuring quality of care. Rural hospitals, rural referral centers, and rural patient populations are discussed throughout this report.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Healthy Border 2020: A Prevention & Health Promotion Initiative
Reports on the prevailing public health issues occurring in U.S.-Mexico border populations. Identifies an agenda focused on health promotion and disease prevention, and develops a strategy for implementing a coordinated public health response at binational, state and local levels.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Reports on the prevailing public health issues occurring in U.S.-Mexico border populations. Identifies an agenda focused on health promotion and disease prevention, and develops a strategy for implementing a coordinated public health response at binational, state and local levels.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Where are the Primary Care Doctors? A Look at Michigan's Primary Care Physician Shortage
Provides an overview of Michigan's primary care physician workforce. Provides demographic information on the physician workforce. Discusses factors contributing to primary care shortages, including those specific to the rural workforce. Includes maps with county-level comparisons of actual to suggested physician-to-population ratios for different types of primary care physicians. Discusses state policy options that can be used to address primary care shortages, with national maps comparing the states.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Citizens Research Council of Michigan
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Provides an overview of Michigan's primary care physician workforce. Provides demographic information on the physician workforce. Discusses factors contributing to primary care shortages, including those specific to the rural workforce. Includes maps with county-level comparisons of actual to suggested physician-to-population ratios for different types of primary care physicians. Discusses state policy options that can be used to address primary care shortages, with national maps comparing the states.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Citizens Research Council of Michigan
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Telemedicine: The Promise and Challenges
Provides an overview of telemedicine including a definition, current applications, policy issues surrounding it, evidence for its use, and a look forward to the future of the service delivery model. Includes examples of the application of telehealth services in rural areas. Lists resources with additional information.
Author(s): Deanna Okrent
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Alliance for Health Policy
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Provides an overview of telemedicine including a definition, current applications, policy issues surrounding it, evidence for its use, and a look forward to the future of the service delivery model. Includes examples of the application of telehealth services in rural areas. Lists resources with additional information.
Author(s): Deanna Okrent
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Alliance for Health Policy
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Charity Care and Uncompensated Care Activities of Tax-Exempt Critical Access Hospitals
Analyzes charity care, uncompensated care, and bad debt activities of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) compared with other rural non-CAH and urban hospitals. Discusses the implications of ACA-mandated hospital financial assistance, emergency care, and billing and collection policies for CAHs.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): John Gale, Jamar Croom, Zachariah Croll, Andrew Coburn
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Analyzes charity care, uncompensated care, and bad debt activities of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) compared with other rural non-CAH and urban hospitals. Discusses the implications of ACA-mandated hospital financial assistance, emergency care, and billing and collection policies for CAHs.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): John Gale, Jamar Croom, Zachariah Croll, Andrew Coburn
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Realizing the Promise of Telehealth: Understanding the Legal and Regulatory Challenges
Describes federal and state compliance issues and regulatory challenges specific to the implementation of telehealth technologies in hospitals, healthcare systems, and with providers, and how they will affect telehealth services, particularly in rural healthcare facilities. Includes discussion on coverage and payment including Medicare and Medicaid, health professional licensure and credentialing, online prescribing, patient privacy, fraud, and medical malpractice and professional liability insurance.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Describes federal and state compliance issues and regulatory challenges specific to the implementation of telehealth technologies in hospitals, healthcare systems, and with providers, and how they will affect telehealth services, particularly in rural healthcare facilities. Includes discussion on coverage and payment including Medicare and Medicaid, health professional licensure and credentialing, online prescribing, patient privacy, fraud, and medical malpractice and professional liability insurance.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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The Transformation of Behavioral Health in New Mexico
Provides an in-depth look at public-sector behavioral healthcare in New Mexico by examining how decisions made at the system level influence the implementation of initiatives by the service providers, and how changes at the gubernatorial level can affect implementation efforts. Discusses findings in relation to efforts made to promote and establish medical home models under the Affordable Care Act.
Author(s): Cathleen E. Willging, Louise Lamphere, Barbara Rylko-Bauer
Citation: Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(3), 343-355
Date: 05/2015
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Provides an in-depth look at public-sector behavioral healthcare in New Mexico by examining how decisions made at the system level influence the implementation of initiatives by the service providers, and how changes at the gubernatorial level can affect implementation efforts. Discusses findings in relation to efforts made to promote and establish medical home models under the Affordable Care Act.
Author(s): Cathleen E. Willging, Louise Lamphere, Barbara Rylko-Bauer
Citation: Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(3), 343-355
Date: 05/2015
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services Meeting Minutes, Slade, Kentucky, May 27-29, 2015
Provides a summary of the 77th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. Discusses health disparities in Appalachia, social determinants of health, including poverty and economic development, and how federal programs are working to address these issues.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Provides a summary of the 77th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. Discusses health disparities in Appalachia, social determinants of health, including poverty and economic development, and how federal programs are working to address these issues.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Report to Congress: Overview of the 340B Drug Pricing Program
Provides a general overview of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, including eligibility criteria for hospitals and providers, analysis of the program's financial impact, and a summary of the debate over the program's importance, especially to rural and underserved communities.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Provides a general overview of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, including eligibility criteria for hospitals and providers, analysis of the program's financial impact, and a summary of the debate over the program's importance, especially to rural and underserved communities.
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Graduate Medical Education Financing: Sustaining Medical Education in Rural Places
A policy brief reporting on the financial situation of rural training track (RTT) residency programs, including their sources of funding, expenses, and the relationship between urban RTT sponsors and rural program sites.
Author(s): Davis G. Patterson, David Schmitz, Randall Longenecker, David Squire, Susan M. Skillman
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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A policy brief reporting on the financial situation of rural training track (RTT) residency programs, including their sources of funding, expenses, and the relationship between urban RTT sponsors and rural program sites.
Author(s): Davis G. Patterson, David Schmitz, Randall Longenecker, David Squire, Susan M. Skillman
Date: 05/2015
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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