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Rural Hospitals – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hospitals.

The Future of Rural Hospitals and Health Systems
Podcast episode featuring a discussion with Joanne Conroy, M.D., Dartmouth Health president and CEO and the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees' chair-elect. Explores the future of rural hospitals and health systems and possible solutions to providing quality, cost-efficient care in rural communities.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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First-Ever Rural Physician and Advanced Practice Provider Compensation Survey
Recording of an October 11, 2023, webinar discussing results of a January 2023 survey of rural hospitals regarding physician and advanced-practice provider compensation. Presents results for primary care and specialty care providers by provider type, hospital system affiliation, and region. Highlights factors that influence compensation and nurse practitioner practice environments by state. Transcript available in the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 10/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, Stroudwater Associates
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Tax-Exempt Hospitals Provided Nearly $130 Billion in Total Benefits to Their Communities: Results from 2020 Tax-Exempt Hospitals' Schedule H Community Benefit Reports
Summarizes the benefits nonprofit hospitals provide their communities based on an analysis of IRS Form 990 Schedule H. Addresses the percent spent on financial assistance, health professions education, community building activities, and other categories included on Schedule H. Includes data for rural and Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2021 Emergency Department Summary Tables
Provides data on ambulatory care emergency department (ED) hospital visits. Table 1 provides metropolitan/nonmetropolitan ED visit data based on hospital location.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Characteristics of 30-Day All-cause Hospital Readmissions, 2016–2020
Examines trends in 30-day all-cause hospital readmissions among patients 1 year old and older in the United States between 2016 and 2020. Explores changes in readmission rates from the pre-pandemic period (2016-2019) to 2020. Presents data by primary payer, patient location, and race and ethnicity.
Author(s): H. Joanna Jiang, Molly Hensche
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Optimizing Inpatient Bed Management in a Rural Community-Based Hospital: A Quality Improvement Initiative
Provides an overview of a project aimed at maintaining appropriate hospital bed capacity within a hub-and-spoke healthcare system in rural, southwest Minnesota. Discusses project phases of discovery, planning, and implementation, as well as the strategy to increase capacity at the tertiary/hub medical center by utilizing beds at partner/spoke hospitals for less complex or acute inpatient stays.
Author(s): Brian N. Bartlett, Nadine N. Vanhoudt, Hanyin Wang, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 23, 1000
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM): Third Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluates the third performance year of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), an initiative designed to test if global budgets can help rural hospitals improve their financial viability, provide flexibility to meet locally defined community health needs, and reduce overall healthcare spending. Provides an overview of the model and describes the implementation experience of participating hospitals and payers. Presents a descriptive quantitative assessment of financial performance, spending and utilization, access to care, and quality of care outcomes from 2016, the model's baseline, through 2021. Includes three case studies discussing three themes: the recruitment and retention of system-affiliated hospitals, engagement and coordination with community organizations and providers, and exploring service line changes.
Additional links: Appendix, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Pediatric Hospitalizations at Rural and Urban Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals in the US, 2009-2019
Describes changes in the number and proportion of pediatric hospitalizations and costs at urban teaching, urban nonteaching, and rural hospitals versus freestanding children's hospitals from 2009-2019. Estimates the number and proportion of hospitals providing inpatient pediatric care and characterizes changes in clinical complexity. Features statistics including sociodemographic, clinical, and hospital characteristics of pediatric hospitalizations, with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Author(s): JoAnna K. Leyenaar, Seneca D. Freyleue, Mary Arakelyan, David C. Goodman, A. James O'Malley
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(9)
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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Examining Rural-Urban Differences in the Availability of Hospital-Based Cardiac Services Between 2010-2020
Results of a study examining the availability of hospital-based general cardiology, diagnostic catheterization, and interventional catheterization services, and whether rural-urban differences in the availability of these services occurred between 2010 and 2020. Features statistics including differences in the proportion of hospitals offering cardiac services across metropolitan, micropolitan, and non-core counties in 2010 and 2020.
Author(s): Gabriel A. Benavidez, Shanikque Barksdale, Peiyin Hung, Elizabeth Crouch
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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The Path to Follow When You Can't Go It Alone
Podcast episode featuring a discussion of hospital mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations with three rural hospital executives and leaders. Describes how rural hospitals can leverage partnerships to maintain and expand care in their communities.
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Last Updated: 11/13/2024