Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models
The Role of Telehealth in Sepsis Care in Rural Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study of Emergency Department Sepsis Telehealth User Perspectives
Explores rural emergency department staff use of and perspectives on provider-to-provider telehealth (tele-ED) use for rural patients with sepsis, using data from interviews with 27 hub physicians, rural ED providers, and nurses in the Upper Midwest. Discusses topics related to rural barriers and facilitators of tele-ED use, impacts on quality of care, staff and facility-level factors, and more.
Author(s): Nicholas M. Mohr, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, Brian M. Fuller, et al.
Citation: PLOS One, 20(4), e0321299
Date: 04/2025
view details
Explores rural emergency department staff use of and perspectives on provider-to-provider telehealth (tele-ED) use for rural patients with sepsis, using data from interviews with 27 hub physicians, rural ED providers, and nurses in the Upper Midwest. Discusses topics related to rural barriers and facilitators of tele-ED use, impacts on quality of care, staff and facility-level factors, and more.
Author(s): Nicholas M. Mohr, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, Brian M. Fuller, et al.
Citation: PLOS One, 20(4), e0321299
Date: 04/2025
view details
Evolving Remote Monitoring: An Evidence-Based Approach to Coverage and Payment
Reports on trends in utilization of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and discusses policy and payment approaches for effectively and efficiently utilizing RPM, particularly via Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data and discussion of rural barriers to RPM access.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Peterson Center on Healthcare
view details
Reports on trends in utilization of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and discusses policy and payment approaches for effectively and efficiently utilizing RPM, particularly via Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data and discussion of rural barriers to RPM access.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Peterson Center on Healthcare
view details
Profile in Innovation: Rural Hospital Participation in Missouri HealthNet's Transformation of Rural Community Health (ToRCH) Program
Provides an overview of ToRCH, a Missouri Medicaid program designed to improve health outcomes and overall well-being in rural Missouri communities by addressing both medical and health-related social needs through a comprehensive, integrated care model. Discusses how hospitals, primary care teams, and community-based organizations implemented the model and funding strategy for the program.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Provides an overview of ToRCH, a Missouri Medicaid program designed to improve health outcomes and overall well-being in rural Missouri communities by addressing both medical and health-related social needs through a comprehensive, integrated care model. Discusses how hospitals, primary care teams, and community-based organizations implemented the model and funding strategy for the program.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
CMS Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model: Sixth Annual Evaluation Report
Sixth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Examines the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 5. Also explores the impact of the model on accountable care relationships, strengthening primary care, and care for patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data on the percentage of BPCI Advanced episodes with and without ACO attribution by patient characteristics, including rural residents.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance, Transformation Spotlight
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
view details
Sixth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Examines the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 5. Also explores the impact of the model on accountable care relationships, strengthening primary care, and care for patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data on the percentage of BPCI Advanced episodes with and without ACO attribution by patient characteristics, including rural residents.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance, Transformation Spotlight
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
view details
Advancing Value-Based Payment Policies Relevant to Rural Areas – Continued Challenges and New Opportunities
Discusses lessons from the recent public health emergency, rising health care costs, improved quality measurement, and innovative technologies on the transition from volume-based payment to value-based payment. Outlines potential policy opportunities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center model design and CMS program inclusion to expand rural-appropriate opportunities to participate in the transition to value-based care. Builds on the 2020 publication How to Design Value‐based Care Models for Rural Participant Success: A Summit Findings Report.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Discusses lessons from the recent public health emergency, rising health care costs, improved quality measurement, and innovative technologies on the transition from volume-based payment to value-based payment. Outlines potential policy opportunities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center model design and CMS program inclusion to expand rural-appropriate opportunities to participate in the transition to value-based care. Builds on the 2020 publication How to Design Value‐based Care Models for Rural Participant Success: A Summit Findings Report.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Colorado's Health IT Roadmap
Report details Colorado's health information technology initiatives. Highlights initiative description, purpose, and outcomes, among other aspects. Features a timeline of the initiatives' implementation. Discusses how each initiative affects rural areas when applicable. Discusses the ongoing progress made towards the 2021 Roadmap goals.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Office of eHealth Innovation
view details
Report details Colorado's health information technology initiatives. Highlights initiative description, purpose, and outcomes, among other aspects. Features a timeline of the initiatives' implementation. Discusses how each initiative affects rural areas when applicable. Discusses the ongoing progress made towards the 2021 Roadmap goals.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Office of eHealth Innovation
view details
Missouri Rural Health Clinic Provider Manual
Provider manual identifying the conditions of participation providing services in Missouri state-funded healthcare programs, including MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid program. Addresses enrollment, eligibility, claim filing, and billing requirements for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in Missouri. Includes information on covered telehealth services.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Department of Social Services
view details
Provider manual identifying the conditions of participation providing services in Missouri state-funded healthcare programs, including MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid program. Addresses enrollment, eligibility, claim filing, and billing requirements for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in Missouri. Includes information on covered telehealth services.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Department of Social Services
view details
From Cost to Community Impact: Telehealth's Social ROI in Rural Communities
Webinar recording discussing telehealth's impact on rural communities via the concept of social return on investment (SROI), which measures social, environmental, and economic value created by investments and other actions. Defines SROI as a concept and describes methods for SROI assessment. Transcript available below the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Author(s): Yael Harris, Jason C. Goldwater
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center
view details
Webinar recording discussing telehealth's impact on rural communities via the concept of social return on investment (SROI), which measures social, environmental, and economic value created by investments and other actions. Defines SROI as a concept and describes methods for SROI assessment. Transcript available below the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Author(s): Yael Harris, Jason C. Goldwater
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center
view details
Delivering Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care: Environmental Scan
Report provides a literature review and interviews with key informants to outline the opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment environment and make policy recommendations. Discusses how changes to regulations have affected access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), how the opioid use environment has changed, and what models and evidence-based tools exist to facilitate OUD treatment, among other issues.
Author(s): Collette Sosnowy, Danielle Durant, Garrett Moran, et al.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
view details
Report provides a literature review and interviews with key informants to outline the opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment environment and make policy recommendations. Discusses how changes to regulations have affected access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), how the opioid use environment has changed, and what models and evidence-based tools exist to facilitate OUD treatment, among other issues.
Author(s): Collette Sosnowy, Danielle Durant, Garrett Moran, et al.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
view details
Telehealth for the Study of Palliative Care Communication: Opportunities, Methodological Challenges, and Recommendations
Examines telehealth in connection to palliative care communication. Utilizes 3 ongoing studies involving patients with serious illnesses who have received palliative care through telehealth to reflect on opportunities and challenges in utilizing telehealth for palliative care. Provides examples from rural Vermont.
Author(s): Elise C. Tarbi, Susanna L. Schuler, Natalie Ambrose, et al.
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 24, 55
Date: 03/2025
view details
Examines telehealth in connection to palliative care communication. Utilizes 3 ongoing studies involving patients with serious illnesses who have received palliative care through telehealth to reflect on opportunities and challenges in utilizing telehealth for palliative care. Provides examples from rural Vermont.
Author(s): Elise C. Tarbi, Susanna L. Schuler, Natalie Ambrose, et al.
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 24, 55
Date: 03/2025
view details