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Rural Healthcare Quality – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Quality.

2023 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report: Chartbook on Patient Safety
Summarizes trends in healthcare quality across 28 measures of patient safety. Presents findings for four settings of care: ambulatory care, home health, hospitals, and nursing homes. Describes disparities in patient safety by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and insurance status. Highlights disparities for maternal morbidity and mortality measures by rurality.
Author(s): Barbara Barton, Darryl Gray, Cecilia Hahn, et al.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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2024 National Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Measures Report
Evaluates the quality measures used across 26 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality reporting programs. Explores whether quality measure scores during the COVID-19 public health emergency (2020-2021) differed from expected trends. Analyzes how different population groups, including urban and rural residents, performed at a national level in order to inform future quality measure development and advance health equity. Provides statistics concerning participation and performance within Medicare quality reporting programs, including statistics specific to rural populations and facilities.
Additional links: Appendices ZIP File
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2024 Small Practice Eligibility and Participation Frequently Asked Questions
Provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding small practice participation and eligibility for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for the 2024 performance year. Covers individual and group eligibility, the low-volume threshold, changes to group composition during the performance year, and more.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Consensus-Based Entity 2023 Annual Report to Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services: Final Report
Summarizes the 2023 work of Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) to measure healthcare quality. Includes a discussion on engaging rural perspectives to consider the unique challenges experienced in rural communities.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review Measures Under Consideration: 2023 Recommendations Report
Reviews the 42 pre-rulemaking quality measures the Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) considered during the 2023-2024 Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) cycle. Discusses measures for clinician, hospital, and post-acute care/long-term care programs. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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2024 MIPS Eligibility Decision Tree
Presents information to determine if providers are eligible to participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in the 2024 Performance Year. Includes information on the low-volume threshold criteria.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Current Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) Measures
Chart outlining the required and optional MBQIP measures. Measures are broken down into two categories, core and additional, and then into five domains: global measures, patient safety, patient engagement, care coordination, and emergency department. MBQIP is a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) quality improvement grant program for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Value-Based Care Assessment Tool
Online tool that assesses 80 different value-based care capacities in eight categories and creates a value-based care readiness report that can be used to support strategic planning. Tool is designed to be used by your healthcare organization's senior leadership team.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Tool
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Shared Savings Program Fast Facts
Provides summary statistics on the Medicare Shared Savings Program as of January 1, 2024. Offers data on the number of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), assigned beneficiaries, total earned shared savings, and quality scores each year since 2012; the number and percent of ACOs in each track; and more. Includes information on ACO participants, including the number of Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participating in the program.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model: Second Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluation of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, incorporating analyses of home dialysis use, transplantation, acute care hospitalizations, outpatient ED visits, and hospital readmissions. Features results from interviews and surveys involving model participants and beneficiaries, and examines impacts of the ETC Model during calendar years 2021 and 2022. Includes facility-level statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Author(s): Brighita Negrusa, Jennifer Wiens, Darin Ullman, et al.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group
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Last Updated: 10/17/2024