Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Emergency medical services
Simulation on Wheels: How Mobile Training Is Saving Lives in Rural Iowa
Podcast episode that discusses Simulation in Motion-Iowa (SIM-IA), a mobile clinical education program that provides rural hospitals and emergency medical service (EMS) professionals training experience in healthcare emergencies. Discusses the importance of SIM-IA in rural healthcare education to promote quality and patient safety in EMS and trauma situations.
Author(s): Tom Haederle, Jacinda Bunch, Tina Eden
Date: 01/2026
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Podcast episode that discusses Simulation in Motion-Iowa (SIM-IA), a mobile clinical education program that provides rural hospitals and emergency medical service (EMS) professionals training experience in healthcare emergencies. Discusses the importance of SIM-IA in rural healthcare education to promote quality and patient safety in EMS and trauma situations.
Author(s): Tom Haederle, Jacinda Bunch, Tina Eden
Date: 01/2026
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) Report Appendix Year 1–Year 4 Cohort Analysis
Provides data from the first 4 cohorts of ground ambulance organizations selected to participate in the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System. Includes response rates, information on data cleaning and validation, statistics summarizing responses, and analyses exploring relationships between costs per service and organizational characteristics. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban, rural, and super rural areas.
Additional links: Codebook
Author(s): Christine Buttorff, Daniel Crespin, Sara Heins, et al.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
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Provides data from the first 4 cohorts of ground ambulance organizations selected to participate in the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System. Includes response rates, information on data cleaning and validation, statistics summarizing responses, and analyses exploring relationships between costs per service and organizational characteristics. Features statistics with breakdowns by urban, rural, and super rural areas.
Additional links: Codebook
Author(s): Christine Buttorff, Daniel Crespin, Sara Heins, et al.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
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Rural Health Transformation Program State Application Summary: State-level Initiatives & Proposed Activities
Summarizes focus areas for each state in the applications for the Rural Health Transformation Program and highlights common themes across all applications.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Summarizes focus areas for each state in the applications for the Rural Health Transformation Program and highlights common themes across all applications.
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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December 2025 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2025 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for physician and other health professional services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), post-acute care, skilled nursing facility services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, home health services, hospice services, and outpatient dialysis services. Includes discussions on improving Medicare payment approaches and mandated reports on the impact of recent changes to the home health prospective payment system and an assessment of the Medicare ground ambulance data collection system.
Additional links: Assessing Payment Adequacy and Updating Payments: Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Services; Mandated Report on Rural Emergency Hospitals; And Update on Site-neutral Payments - Presentation Slides, Mandated Report: Assessment of the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System - Presentation Slides
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2025 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for physician and other health professional services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), post-acute care, skilled nursing facility services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, home health services, hospice services, and outpatient dialysis services. Includes discussions on improving Medicare payment approaches and mandated reports on the impact of recent changes to the home health prospective payment system and an assessment of the Medicare ground ambulance data collection system.
Additional links: Assessing Payment Adequacy and Updating Payments: Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Services; Mandated Report on Rural Emergency Hospitals; And Update on Site-neutral Payments - Presentation Slides, Mandated Report: Assessment of the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System - Presentation Slides
Date: 12/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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MedPAC Payment Basics
Series of briefs providing an of Medicare payment systems. Covers payments systems including Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics, hospital acute inpatient services, and more.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Series of briefs providing an of Medicare payment systems. Covers payments systems including Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics, hospital acute inpatient services, and more.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicare Payment Basics: Ambulance Services Payment System
Provides an overview of Medicare payments for ambulance services. Discusses rural add-on payment policies, geographic categories determining payment rates, super-rural ZIP codes, and ambulance fee schedules.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Provides an overview of Medicare payments for ambulance services. Discusses rural add-on payment policies, geographic categories determining payment rates, super-rural ZIP codes, and ambulance fee schedules.
Date: 11/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Oregon Areas of Unmet Health Care Need Report, 2025
Covers nine variables that describe areas of unmet healthcare need in Oregon and measure access to primary care, mental, and oral healthcare services. Areas of unmet need are scored based on variables within the following categories: availability of providers, ability to afford care, and utilization. Includes statistics and county-level information by service areas.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Oregon Office of Rural Health
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Covers nine variables that describe areas of unmet healthcare need in Oregon and measure access to primary care, mental, and oral healthcare services. Areas of unmet need are scored based on variables within the following categories: availability of providers, ability to afford care, and utilization. Includes statistics and county-level information by service areas.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Oregon Office of Rural Health
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Expiring Health Provisions of the 119th Congress
Outlines the healthcare-related funding and governmental authorities that will expire during the 119th Congress, calendars year 2025-2026, if not extended through congressional action. Highlights similar provisions that expired during the 118th Congress (2023-2024). Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Outlines the healthcare-related funding and governmental authorities that will expire during the 119th Congress, calendars year 2025-2026, if not extended through congressional action. Highlights similar provisions that expired during the 118th Congress (2023-2024). Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Rural EMS Regionalization - Opportunities and Policy Considerations
Explores models of emergency medical services (EMS) at the state level. Includes a case study exploring successes in Minnesota and offers policy recommendations to overcome common rural EMS challenges.
Author(s): Eli Steenhoek, Lauren Lavin, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Explores models of emergency medical services (EMS) at the state level. Includes a case study exploring successes in Minnesota and offers policy recommendations to overcome common rural EMS challenges.
Author(s): Eli Steenhoek, Lauren Lavin, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Quantitative Effects of Mechanical Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Devices in Rural American Emergency Medical Services: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Examines the effect of mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidents in rural areas and the usefulness of new technologies on rural emergency medical services (EMS). Utilizes 2017–2019 National Emergency Medical Services Information System data to analyze 585 rural cardiac arrests and the impact of mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation on EMS care quality.
Author(s): Peter H. King, Esmaeil Bahalkeh
Citation: International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18, 151
Date: 08/2025
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Examines the effect of mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidents in rural areas and the usefulness of new technologies on rural emergency medical services (EMS). Utilizes 2017–2019 National Emergency Medical Services Information System data to analyze 585 rural cardiac arrests and the impact of mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation on EMS care quality.
Author(s): Peter H. King, Esmaeil Bahalkeh
Citation: International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18, 151
Date: 08/2025
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