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Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

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
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Mathematica
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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
Sponsoring organizations: Office of Inspector General (HHS), Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
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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
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
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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
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Serving Native American Households Using ERA: Learning from High-Spending Programs
Examines high-spending Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) on Native lands to address housing issues such as overcrowding, homelessness, and application accessibility, among others. Examines 7 Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs) in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska. Provides background on housing instability, statistics about allocated funding and households served by ERA, and challenges TDHEs face.
Author(s): Neetu Nair, Sophie Siebach-Glover, Andrew Aurand
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organizations: National Low Income Housing Coalition, United Native American Housing Association
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Public Health Is Local
Discusses ways local health departments (LHDs) of various sizes can collaborate with state and federal partners and successfully implement programs. Considers issues facing current LHDs, such as localism versus centralism, the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing and capacity issues, and more. Offers potential solutions and planning strategies for obstacles LHDs face.
Author(s): Nisha M. Patel, Padmini Ranasinghe, Phillip Phan, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 12/2022
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Federal Support for Financially Distressed Hospitals
Provides an overview of Medicare hospital payments and federal funding opportunities to assist financially distressed hospitals. Includes information on COVID-19 relief funding targeted to rural and safety net hospitals.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Adolescent Reproductive Health Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Women on Both Sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border
Highlights a study on the age, sexual history, and contraceptive use of adolescent mothers of Mexican origin in the U.S.-Mexico border region. Explores factors contributing to adolescent pregnancy. Compares foreign-born women of Mexican origin, U.S.-born women of Mexican origin, and Mexican women residing in Mexico. Breaks down data by age, household size, and rural versus urban/suburban location.
Author(s): Blair G. Darney, Emily Boniface, Laura E. Jacobson, et al.
Citation: Journal of Adolescent Health, 71(6), 679-687
Date: 12/2022
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Rural–Urban Disparities in Mortality and Place of Death for Gastrointestinal Cancer in the United States From 2003 to 2019
A research letter that examines age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) from gastrointestinal cancer in large metro, medium/small metro, and rural areas. Analyzes 2,490,412 AAMR records between 2013 and 2019 utilizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC Wonder) database. Provides breakdowns of AAMR data by age, sex, race/ethnicity, cancer type, urbanicity, and location of death, such as nursing facility, hospice facility, medical facility, or home.
Author(s): S.M. Qasim Hussaini, Amanda L. Blackford, Nivedita Arora, et al.
Citation: Gastroenterology, 163(6), 1676-1678
Date: 12/2022
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Development of a Colorectal Cancer Screening Intervention for Alaska Native People During a Pandemic Year
Examines the development and implementation of a screening methodology for colorectal cancer (CRC) in Alaska Native (AN) populations. Analyzes 32 rural/remote AN communities who received various community-based CRC screening interventions compared to 14 AN communities who received opportunistic care for CRC screening. Includes discussion about barriers and challenges of screening in rural AN populations, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Christie A. Flanagan, Lila J. Finney Rutten, John B. Kisiel, et al.
Citation: Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, 30, 101016
Date: 12/2022
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