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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Transportation Disadvantaged Populations: Nonemergency Medical Transportation Not Well Coordinated, and Additional Federal Leadership Needed
Discusses the federal programs that support nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT) and how coordination of these programs between federal agencies is limited. Coordination between state and local level NEMT services and the challenges that accompany NEMT coordination are reviewed.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2014
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Impact of Home Health Payment Rebasing on Beneficiary Access to and Quality of Care
Measures the impact of base-payment reductions mandated by the Affordable Care Act on beneficiary access to and the quality of care provided by home health agencies. Reports findings across geographic area (rural and urban).
Date: 12/2014
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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State Innovation Models (SIM) Initiative Evaluation: Model Test Base Year Annual Report
First annual report on 6 states - Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Vermont - that received federal support in the first round of the State Innovation Model (SIM) initiative to design and implement health care innovation plans. Presents results of the first site visits to the states, including information from interviews and focus groups, and baseline data on care coordination, quality of care, healthcare utilization, and healthcare expenditures. Includes some discussion of issues specific to rural healthcare.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RTI International
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Evaluation of Health Care Innovation Awards (HCIA): Primary Care Redesign Programs, First Annual Report
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. Includes 2 rural-focused projects and 9 projects that included services to rural areas.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica Policy Research
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Annual Report 1: HCIA Disease-Specific Evaluation
Evaluations of 18 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects targeting patient populations with specific diseases. Includes projects that serve a variety of rural areas and address conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Approaches discussed include care coordination, education, and telehealth.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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HCIA Complex/High-Risk Patient Targeting: First Annual Report
Evaluations of 23 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on patients with medically complex conditions at high risk for hospitalization, re-hospitalization, emergency department visits, or nursing home stays. Identifies several projects serving rural areas, including programs that use telehealth, in-home care, and various care coordination approaches.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Twenty-Second Report: The Role of Graduate Medical Education in the New Health Care Paradigm
Presents seven recommendations from the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) regarding the expansion of Graduate Medical Education training. Suggests expanding GME clinical training into ambulatory and community settings, and ensuring accountability including providing rural and underserved practice locations. Discusses the need for increased funding for GME, and providing future physicians with the training and skills needed for emerging care delivery systems.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organization: Council on Graduate Medical Education
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Attorney General's Advisory Committee on American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence: Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive
Reports on the current epidemic of American Indian and Alaskan Native children's exposure to violence, and offers policy recommendations to the Attorney General on ways to address the issues.
Date: 11/2014
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Justice
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Evaluation of the Shared Decision Making (SDM) & Medication Management (MM) Health Care Innovation Awardees: Annual Report 1
Evaluations of 9 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on implementing shared decision making or medication management programs. Includes 2 projects focused on rural areas. One offers medication management services to patients with multiple chronic conditions and the other provides hospital pharmacist to community pharmacist care coordination.
Date: 10/2014
Sponsoring organizations: Acumen, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Evaluation of the Health Care Innovation Awards: Community Resource Planning, Prevention, and Monitoring: Annual Report
Evaluations of 24 Health Care Innovation Awards Round One projects focused on enhancing care coordination and healthcare access through the use of health information technology, care coordination/patient navigation, and health promotion and prevention services. Includes information on 5 rural-focused projects, as well as projects that serve both rural and urban areas.
Author(s): RTI International
Date: 10/2014
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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