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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models

Preserve Telehealth Access Act of 2021: Telehealth Recommendations
Offers policy recommendations related to Maryland's Preserve Telehealth Access Act of 2021, including recommendations related to provider options to deliver care via telehealth, audio-visual and audio-only delivery, remote patient monitoring, hospice care services, inpatient care, patient privacy, and reimbursement levels.
Author(s): Randolph S. Sergent, Ben Steffen
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maryland Health Care Commission
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Financial Impact of Telehealth: Rural Chief Financial Officer Perspectives
Explores how rural chief financial officers (CFOs) and hospital administrators perceive the financial impacts of telehealth in their facilities. Analyzes 30 interview responses from CFOs and administrators between October 2021 and January 2022 about the perceived benefits and challenges of telehealth programs. Discusses opportunities to improve telehealth infrastructure to make the modality more cost effective for hospitals.
Author(s): Lori Uscher-Pines, Jessica L. Sousa, Kori S. Zachrison, Lee Schwamm, Ateev Mehrotra
Citation: The American Journal of Managed Care, 28(12), e436-e443
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
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Evaluation of the Primary Care First Model: First Annual Report
Provides an overview of the Primary Care First (PCF) model, which aims to enhance primary care and move primary care practitioners toward value-based payment. Describes the first performance year of the PCF model for Cohort 1 practices. Explores advanced primary care attributes that Cohort 1 practices report they possessed at the start of PCF and the approaches these practices have taken or plan to take to change how they deliver advanced primary care. Presents findings on the 13 payers that are partnering with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as payer partners, including why they chose to partner with CMS and efforts made to align their payments with CMS in the PCF model.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
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Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program: 2022 Grantee Directory
Provides contact information and brief descriptions for the 32 rural health networks funded by the Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network (RPHWTN) program during the 2022-2025 grant period to expand rural public health capacity. Includes information by state and organization type as well as by program track for community health support, health IT and/or telehealth technical support, community paramedicine, and case management and/or respiratory therapy.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
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Insights on Telehealth Use and Program Integrity Risks Across Selected Health Care Programs During the Pandemic
Presents a study of telehealth expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic and program integrity risks, including fraud, waste, and abuse. Offers a range of data on telehealth usage and programs
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Office of Inspector General (HHS), Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
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Evaluation of the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model: Second Evaluation Report
Evaluates the first three performance years of the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model (VTAPM), which aims to assess whether scaling an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) across all payers in the state can reduce program expenditures while preserving or improving care quality. Discusses the implementation of the model, provider engagement, efforts to address population health goals; characteristics of participating hospitals, practitioners, and beneficiaries; and the model's impacts on Medicare spending, utilization, and quality of care. Describes changes to the model's design in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and how COVID-19 and a cyberattack impacted healthcare utilization. Includes information on hospital and provider participation in rural areas and limited participation by Critical Access Hospitals.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance, Technical Appendices
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Before and During Pandemic Telemedicine Use: An Analysis of Rural and Urban Safety-Net Clinics
Investigates telemedicine use for primary care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizes electronic health record data to analyze 1,015,722 patients seen in 466 different safety-net clinics. Includes demographic breakdown of patients by sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, chronic disease status, and urban, large rural, small rural, or isolated rural residence.
Author(s): Annie E. Larson, Whitney E. Zahnd, Melinda M. Davis, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 63(6), 1031-1036
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
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Contraceptive Care Service Provision via Telehealth Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic at Rural and Urban Federally Qualified Health Centers in 2 Southeastern States
Explores a study on the use of telehealth by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to provide contraceptive services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama and South Carolina. Breaks down data by clinic accessibility and services offered, type of contraceptives provided, and rural versus urban location, among other factors.
Author(s): Kate Beatty, Michael G. Smith, Amal J. Khoury, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(1), 160-171
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
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USDA's ReConnect Program: Expanding Rural Broadband
Provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's ReConnect program, which provides loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to build and enhance broadband infrastructure in eligible rural service areas. Summarizes program details, funding allocations, the three rounds of awards, and funding awards by state. Compares the ReConnect program with other USDA broadband programs. Identifies issues that may impact the program's effectiveness, related legislation introduced in the 117th Congress, and potential policy options.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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National Advisory Council on the National Health Service Corps (NACNHSC) Meeting Minutes, November 15-16, 2022
Minutes from the November 15-16, 2022 meeting, including presentations on collaborative care, shortage designation policy, HRSA's geriatrics programs, family caregivers, effects of COVID-19, and National Health Service Corps updates.
Additional links: Agenda, Caring for the Care Collaborator: Building and Sustaining the Competent Team, Health Resources and Services Administration's Geriatrics Programs, Leading In Challenging Times… Creating the Future We Want and Our Communities and Patients Need, Policy Updates, Preparing Clinicians to "R.A.I.S.E." Family Caregivers
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Council on the National Health Service Corps
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