Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Reimbursement and payment models

The Impact of Medicare Shared Savings Program Participation on Hospital Financial Performance: An Event-Study Analysis
Examines the effects of hospitals' participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) on their financial performance. Compares within-hospital changes over time between MSSP and non-MSSP hospitals. Includes a comparison of the effects of MSSP participation between Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and non-CAHs.
Author(s): Huang Huang, Fred Ullrich, A. Clinton MacKinney, Keith Mueller
Citation: Health Services Research, 2022
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
view details
Teledentistry Trends in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Reviews the use of teledentistry during and following the COVID-19 pandemic in California, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and examines reimbursement issues and supports needed to enhance dental care in a post-COVID-19 world. Mentions rural throughout.
Author(s): Miranda Werts, Prashanta Patel, Elizabeth Mertz
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Oral Health Workforce Research Center
view details
The Future of Telehealth After COVID-19: New Opportunities and Challenges
Provides an overview of the current evidence regarding telehealth's impact on equitable access to care and on quality of care, patient outcomes, and cost. Describes the COVID-19 pandemic-related regulatory flexibilities for mental health and substance use disorder services. Discusses the importance of telehealth on primary and specialty care during the public health emergency (PHE). Offers recommendations for Medicare telehealth policies to promote better outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries and value for the Medicare program.
Additional links: Medicare Telehealth Utilization and Spending Impacts 2019-2021, Webinar Recording
Author(s): Julia Harris, Sabah Bhatnagar, Brady Newell, et al.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
view details
Rural Health System Value-Based Care Innovators Roundtable: Strategies and Insights
Presents findings from interviews with five health systems that include a substantial proportion of rural hospitals and clinics and actively support the transition to value-based care. Covers organizational structure, governance and decision-making, operations, data and communication, contracts, and social determinants of health. Identifies common health system tensions and opportunities to implementing value-based care at rural facilities.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Rural Health Clinics: Focusing on the Patient
Brief overview of the history of Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), from their origins in the Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977, and into the present, as they continue to provide an array of vital services to rural communities.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
A Career of Influencing Rural Healthcare Delivery: Bill Finerfrock and the NARHC Origin Story
Reviews the founding of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC), with insights from long-time NARHC executive director Bill Finerfrock about collaborative work with other rural health organizations to support the Rural Health Clinic program.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Rural Health Clinic Program at 45 Years: Created for Access and Still Delivering Care
Features rural health policy experts, researchers, and clinicians discussing the impact of the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program on outpatient healthcare delivery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Factors Predicting Swing Bed Versus Skilled Nursing Facility Use
Examines differences between patients discharged to swing beds versus skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Features statistics on discharge disposition of people from rural Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals, characteristics of people discharged to swing beds or SNFs, with breakdowns by rural CAH discharges and rural PPS discharges, and hospitalization type for discharges to swing beds or SNFs. Includes the 10 most common diagnostic categories for discharges to swing beds or SNFs.
Author(s): Tyler Malone, Mark Holmes
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Maternal Health: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Care in Rural Areas
Explores the availability of hospital-based obstetric services in rural areas. Summarizes stakeholder perspectives on the factors affecting the availability of these services and on the efforts federal agencies, states, and others could take to increase the access to obstetric care. Highlights six programs identified by researchers and provider associations as effective at increasing obstetric care in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Small Rural Hospitals with Low-Volume Emergency Departments that May Convert to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH)
Explores a variety of characteristics of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and rural hospitals eligible to convert to the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation, including patient volume, services and technology, EMS, and clinical staffing characteristics. Compares eligible hospitals by emergency department volume in 2019. Summarizes observations made by emergency department physician advisers regarding this data and REH implementation concerns.
Author(s): Margaret Greenwood-Ericksen, TJ Grant, Susie Gurzenda, et al.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details