Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance
Investing in Primary Care: The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now
Describes opportunities to support advancement of preparation and growth for nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet the population's primary care needs. Explores the importance of NPs in rural and underserved communities, and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Describes opportunities to support advancement of preparation and growth for nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet the population's primary care needs. Explores the importance of NPs in rural and underserved communities, and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Limited Behavioral Health Provider Networks and Inactive Providers
Examines the availability of behavioral health providers in selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care networks in 2023. Analyzes provider network lists and MA and Medicaid encounter data for four MA and two Medicaid managed care plans from 10 selected urban and rural counties across five states. Describes the proportion of the behavioral health workforce in each county included in the plans' networks. Discusses the extent to which managed care plans had inactive providers in their network and why these providers did not deliver services to enrollees. Includes data on the percentage of inactive providers in rural and urban counties. Offers recommendations to monitor and improve the accuracy of provider networks.
Additional links: Report Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Examines the availability of behavioral health providers in selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care networks in 2023. Analyzes provider network lists and MA and Medicaid encounter data for four MA and two Medicaid managed care plans from 10 selected urban and rural counties across five states. Describes the proportion of the behavioral health workforce in each county included in the plans' networks. Discusses the extent to which managed care plans had inactive providers in their network and why these providers did not deliver services to enrollees. Includes data on the percentage of inactive providers in rural and urban counties. Offers recommendations to monitor and improve the accuracy of provider networks.
Additional links: Report Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Transforming Rural Health Care Through Medicaid Innovation: Tip Sheet Series
Informational tip sheets discussing the use of Medicaid innovations to assist states in creating their Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program applications. Covers issues such as behavioral health, school-based services, integrated care access, community health workers, community paramedicine, specialty care, and healthcare technology. Provides examples, strategies, Medicaid policy information, and resources.
Additional links: Improving Access to Integrated Care for Dually Eligible Individuals in Rural Areas, Leveraging Community Health Workers to Address Rural Health Care Needs, Leveraging Community Paramedicine to Address Rural Health Needs, Leveraging Peers and Lay Counselors to Address Behavioral Health Care Workforce Shortages in Rural Areas, Using Project ECHO to Deliver Specialty Care in Rural Areas, Using School-Based Services to Improve Access to Preventive Health Care for Children in Rural Areas, Using Tech-Enabled Solutions to Improve Care Quality and Access in Rural Areas
Author(s): Molly Knowles, Nancy Archibald, Karla Silverman, Lauren Scannelli Jacobs
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Informational tip sheets discussing the use of Medicaid innovations to assist states in creating their Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program applications. Covers issues such as behavioral health, school-based services, integrated care access, community health workers, community paramedicine, specialty care, and healthcare technology. Provides examples, strategies, Medicaid policy information, and resources.
Additional links: Improving Access to Integrated Care for Dually Eligible Individuals in Rural Areas, Leveraging Community Health Workers to Address Rural Health Care Needs, Leveraging Community Paramedicine to Address Rural Health Needs, Leveraging Peers and Lay Counselors to Address Behavioral Health Care Workforce Shortages in Rural Areas, Using Project ECHO to Deliver Specialty Care in Rural Areas, Using School-Based Services to Improve Access to Preventive Health Care for Children in Rural Areas, Using Tech-Enabled Solutions to Improve Care Quality and Access in Rural Areas
Author(s): Molly Knowles, Nancy Archibald, Karla Silverman, Lauren Scannelli Jacobs
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Dental Care in Crisis: Tracking the Cost and Prevalence of Emergency Department Visits for Non-Traumatic Dental Conditions
Report explores non-traumatic emergency department visits for dental conditions. Tracks the cost and prevalence of incidents from 2019 to 2022. Includes a breakdown of incidents in rural, small or medium metro, fringe metro, and central metro counties.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Report explores non-traumatic emergency department visits for dental conditions. Tracks the cost and prevalence of incidents from 2019 to 2022. Includes a breakdown of incidents in rural, small or medium metro, fringe metro, and central metro counties.
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
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Identifying Disability with Medicaid Claims Data
Provides a research model that utilizes Medicaid Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files (TAF) data to identify people with disabilities in the Medicaid population. Includes breakdowns of those with a known or suspected disability across demographic groups, including rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Jonathan Gellar, Afroze Chughtai, Andrea Wysocki
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Provides a research model that utilizes Medicaid Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files (TAF) data to identify people with disabilities in the Medicaid population. Includes breakdowns of those with a known or suspected disability across demographic groups, including rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Jonathan Gellar, Afroze Chughtai, Andrea Wysocki
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Medicare Hospice Use Patterns Among Patients With Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementias Compared to Those With Other Terminal Diagnoses
Examines hospice use among Medicare enrollees with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) compared to Medicare hospice enrollees with other terminal diagnoses. Explores whether hospice characteristics, including rural status, are associated with hospice length of stay, visit frequency, and live discharge rates among Medicare patients with and without terminal and comorbid ADRD diagnoses.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Examines hospice use among Medicare enrollees with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) compared to Medicare hospice enrollees with other terminal diagnoses. Explores whether hospice characteristics, including rural status, are associated with hospice length of stay, visit frequency, and live discharge rates among Medicare patients with and without terminal and comorbid ADRD diagnoses.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Comparing Disaster-Related Surge Staffing Practices Across Rural and Non-Rural Nursing Homes
Explores whether rural and non-rural nursing homes implemented different disaster-related staffing approaches. Analyzes data from 361 CMS-certified nursing homes that were exposed to the direct path of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Compares the change in pre- and post-disaster staffing across three dimensions of nursing home staffing: intensity, licensure composition, and employment composition.
Citation: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 73(12), 3829-3835
Date: 09/2025
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Explores whether rural and non-rural nursing homes implemented different disaster-related staffing approaches. Analyzes data from 361 CMS-certified nursing homes that were exposed to the direct path of Hurricane Michael in 2018. Compares the change in pre- and post-disaster staffing across three dimensions of nursing home staffing: intensity, licensure composition, and employment composition.
Citation: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 73(12), 3829-3835
Date: 09/2025
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Telehealth: 2026 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Telehealth Accreditation Program. Covers patient and resident identification, caregiver communication, medication safety, suicide prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Telehealth Accreditation Program. Covers patient and resident identification, caregiver communication, medication safety, suicide prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Critical Access Hospital: 2026 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. Covers emergency management, infection prevention, pain management and safe prescribing practices, suicide prevention, workplace and patient safety, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. Covers emergency management, infection prevention, pain management and safe prescribing practices, suicide prevention, workplace and patient safety, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Unfairness Toward Rural Beneficiaries in Medicare's Hierarchical Conditions Categories Score
Evaluates the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) to determine its usefulness in accurately predicting risk for rural and urban patients. Assesses rural and urban risk by mortality rates and compares findings with HCC's measure of spending to identify risk. Discusses implications of findings related to reimbursement rates, healthcare access, social determinants of health, and Medicare Advantage enrollment. Offers potential solutions to address study findings.
Author(s): Ravi B. Parikh, Kristin A. Linn, Junning Liang, et al
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(9)
Date: 09/2025
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Evaluates the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) to determine its usefulness in accurately predicting risk for rural and urban patients. Assesses rural and urban risk by mortality rates and compares findings with HCC's measure of spending to identify risk. Discusses implications of findings related to reimbursement rates, healthcare access, social determinants of health, and Medicare Advantage enrollment. Offers potential solutions to address study findings.
Author(s): Ravi B. Parikh, Kristin A. Linn, Junning Liang, et al
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(9)
Date: 09/2025
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