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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health Care
Examines healthcare quality in rural America and offers a strategy to address the quality challenges in rural communities. Includes key findings on rural healthcare quality and patient safety, as well as recommendations.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Arizona Rural Health Plan 2005-2007
Reports on how to strengthen the rural health infrastructure in the state as well as how to enhance access to health services by rural residents.
Author(s): Howard J. Eng, Julie Jacobs, Jennifer Peashock
Date: 12/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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FCC Rural Health Care Support Mechanism: Second Report and Order, Order on Reconsiderations, & Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
FCC report identifying the expansion of funding for rural telemedicine services to improve the effectiveness of the rural healthcare universal service support mechanism. The mechanism provides discounts to rural healthcare providers to access modern telecommunications for medical and health maintenance purposes. Defines "Rural Area."
Date: 12/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
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Medicare Hospice Care: Modifications to Payment Methodology May Be Warranted
Discusses proposed adjustments to Medicare payments for hospice services. Includes some information on rural aspects of hospice and Medicare reimbursement.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services Meeting Minutes, Tupelo, Mississippi, September 12-14, 2004
Minutes from a September 2014 meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services in Tupelo, Mississippi. Meeting included a panel discussion on health and human services issues in Mississippi, as well as discussion from the subcommittees examining access to obstetrical services and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).
Date: 09/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Broken Promises: Evaluating the Native American Health Care System
Describes the health disparities facing the Native American community, contributing barriers to healthcare access, and recommendations for improvement.
Date: 09/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
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Welfare Reform: Rural TANF Programs Have Developed Many Strategies to Address Rural Challenges
Describes the rural caseload for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and how the caseload has changed over time. Includes data on rural-urban TANF cases for each state. Describes challenges facing rural TANF programs, including health-related challenges, and strategies used to address these challenges.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Medicare: Information Needed to Assess Adequacy of Rate-Setting Methodology for Payments for Hospital Outpatient Services
Examines whether the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rate-setting methodology results in payment rates that uniformly reflect hospitals' costs for providing drugs and devices. Includes information specific to rural hospitals and the OPPS.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Investigating Rural Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Infrastructure: A Developmental Methodology for Measuring the Availability of EMS Resources
Explores a potential indicator of EMS availability, Expected Annual Emergency Miles per Ambulance (EXAMB). Illustrates how EXAMB could be applied using ambulance availability data from five states: Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, and Wyoming. Includes policy and research recommendations.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Author(s): P. Daniel Patterson, Janice C. Probst, Charity G. Moore
Date: 08/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Rural Physicians' Acceptance of New Medicare Patients
Describes trends for urban and rural physicians who no longer accept new Medicare patients. Discusses the impact of Medicare payment policy changes on rural physicians' decisions to accept Medicare patients.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Jane L. Meza, Liyan Xu
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 9(5)
Date: 08/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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