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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Telecommunications: FCC's Performance Management Weaknesses Could Jeopardize Proposed Reforms of the Rural Health Care Program
Evaluates the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) management of the Rural Health Care Program. Focuses on how well the program is addressing the needs of rural healthcare providers, the impact of the FCC's pilot program design and implementation, and the FCC's performance goals and measures.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 11/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Preparing the Interprofessional Healthcare Workforce to Address Health Behavior Change: Ensuring A High Quality and Cost-Effective Healthcare System
10th Annual Report to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Congress of the United States. Focuses on education and training needed to help the healthcare workforce promote positive health behaviors. Discusses task shifting to community members in rural areas such as the use of lay health workers, including promotoras and patient navigators.
Date: 09/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services Meeting Minutes, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, September 15-17th, 2010
Minutes from the 66th meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS). The meeting included discussions on childhood obesity in rural communities and the rural implications of accountable care organizations and payment bundling.
Date: 09/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Impacts on Rural People, Places, and Providers: A First Look
Summarizes six issue areas of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and discusses implications for access to services and improving the health status of rural residents. These issue areas are: health insurance coverage; Medicare and Medicaid payment; quality, financing, and delivery system reform; public health; healthcare workforce; and long-term care.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 09/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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The Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Rural Primary Care Physician Supply
Examines the rural physician shortage, the effect of recent trends in specialty choice on provider supply, and major trends that are changing the dynamics that shape the delivery of healthcare. Identifies policy options that could help increase the number of rural family medicine physicians.
Additional links: Policy Brief, June 2009
Author(s): Roger A. Rosenblatt, Frederick M. Chen, Denise M. Lishner, Mark P. Doescher
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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The Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative: Implications for Rural Physicians
Discusses the impact of rurality on office-based physicians' participation in the 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), a voluntary pay-for-reporting program in Medicare.
Author(s): Alycia Infante, Michael Meit, Elizabeth Hargrave
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Use of Emergency Departments for Conditions Related to Poor Oral Health Care
Reports findings from a study of seven states that looked at use of emergency departments to address oral health needs. Provides data for rural and urban areas and discusses the potential impacts of differences in state Medicaid policies.
Author(s): Emily F. Shortridge, Jonathan R. Moore
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Designating Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Populations/Medically Underserved Areas: A Primer on Basic Issues to Resolve
Includes discussion for interested parties considering issues related to the designation of Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs), and Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). Describes key issues on how the designations establish eligibility for programs important to rural healthcare delivery.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Increases in Primary Care Physician Income due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010--Continued Tweaking of Physician Payment
Examines changes authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) to the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) system aimed at increasing primary care physician personal income and reducing geographic variation in primary care payment. Looks at ACA-authorized primary care payment adjustments in a prototypical rural primary care practice to assess the potential impact on physician personal income and the likelihood that the changes will achieve the desired policy outcome.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney
Date: 07/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Developing the Rural Primary Care Workforce in Hawai'i - A 10-Point Plan
Describes initiatives focused on addressing physician shortages in Hawaii. Covers a ten point plan to lay the framework for improving the rural physician training pipeline. Highlights the impact of a rural family medicine residency program.
Author(s): Allen L. Hixon, Lee E. Buenconsejo-Lum
Citation: Hawaii Medical Journal, 69(6), 53-55
Date: 06/2010
Type: Document
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