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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Vermont's All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model: Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center's Experience
Profiles Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC), a Critical Access Hospital and health center partnership in central Vermont. Describes how MAHHC provides care differently as a participant in the OneCare Vermont accountable care organization (ACO). Discusses how MAHHC adapted healthcare delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights challenges and financial implications of MAHHC's participation in OneCare Vermont.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, March 2022
Reports on five aspects of Medicaid: 1) transitioning Medicaid beneficiaries out of institutions and back into the community under the Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration program, 2) improving access to vaccines and vaccination rates for adults enrolled in Medicaid, and 3) reviewing hospital payment policy for the nation's safety-net hospitals. Chapter 3 examines the relationship between disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments to states and the number of uninsured individuals, the amounts and sources of hospitals' uncompensated care costs, and the amounts and sources of hospitals' uncompensated care costs. Table 3-1 details DSH spending for urban and rural hospitals and for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Engaging Communities Through Issues Forums: A How-To Guide for Onsite and Online Community Engagement
Offers guidance on community forums as a technical education tool, including information on planning and hosting a forum, strategies for engaging communities, and resources to support committees and stakeholders. Features examples from forums on farm vitality, farmer mental health, and family health. Requires email registration to view the guide as a flipbook, with a PDF download option at the bottom of the screen.
Author(s): Maria Pippidis, Bonnie Braun, Jessie Ketterman, Shoshanah Inwood, Nicole Wright
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Cooperative Extension Service
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Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide in Chronic Disease Through Community Engagement in Health Program Delivery
Discusses health disparities in rural versus urban communities in North Carolina and possible solutions for community-centered change. Includes charts and maps that detail rural-urban differences in mortality, heart disease, and housing problems.
Author(s): Lori Carter-Edwards, Monica M. Taylor
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 83(2), 103-106
Date: 03/2022
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USDA Rural Housing Programs: An Overview
Outlines housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Rural Housing Service (RHS) and targeted specifically to residents of rural communities. Describes trends related to Section 502 Direct and Guaranteed Loans. Highlights policy proposals regarding multifamily housing preservation and the administration of rural housing programs. Includes information on the appropriations of rural housing programs between fiscal years 2017-2021.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Indian Health Service: Information on Third-Party Collections and Processes to Procure Supplies and Services
Reviews the Indian Health Service (IHS) oversight of collections received from third-party payers such as Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance for care provided to patients. Examines recent trends in third-party collections; describes IHS's processes to procure medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and health care services; and discusses the extent to which IHS has entered into procurement contracts under the Buy Indian Act.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Educating Future Healthcare Providers: Health Literacy Opportunities for Webside Manners
Discusses best practices for teaching health literacy principles to healthcare profession trainees. Features several programs that are helping students learn how to support the health literacy of their future patients.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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An Inventory of State Flex Program Population Health Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2019-2023
Provides an overview of Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program funding for initiatives to improve rural population health under Program Area 3: Population Health Improvement. Offers a state-by-state summary of State Flex Program (SFP) population health initiatives between fiscal years 2019 and 2021. Details output and process measures, outcome measures, and SFP partners for each initiative.
Author(s): Celia Jewell, Sara Kahn-Troster, Zachariah Croll, John Gale
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Evaluating State Flex Program Population Health Activities
Provides an overview of the expectations for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program under Program Area 3: Population Health Improvement and summarizes State Flex Program (SFP) initiatives under this program area. Describes promising population health strategies implemented by SFPs and challenges to measuring the impact of these activities. Explores how Flex Program population health efforts can align with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative (HRHI).
Author(s): John Gale, Celia Jewell, Sara Kahn-Troster, Zachariah Croll
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Midwest Rural-Urban Disparities in Use of Patient Online Services for Covid-19
Examines patient portal messaging utilization in a Midwest health system based on data from over 1 million messages generated between February 2020 and August 2020 by rural and urban users. Includes breakdown of user data along rural versus urban and demographic lines. Discusses rural disparities related to virtual care, such as using portal messaging for COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment versus pandemic isolation and anxiety.
Author(s): Ming Huang, Andrew Wen, Huan He, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 908-915
Date: 03/2022
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