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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Rural Success: Paris Community Hospital, IL
Describes the quality improvement efforts of Paris Community Hospital in rural Paris, Illinois. Highlights the success of the emergency department's communication with other departments and facilities and opportunities to improve the hospital's antibiotic stewardship.
Date: 09/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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COVID-19 Reveals Emerging Opportunities for Rural Public Health
Explores potential and existing public health innovations that rural communities can implement to address challenges brought on or exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, including lack of funding for local health departments, insufficient broadband, and more. Describes the expansion of telehealth services, discusses rural/urban disparities, and offers recommendations for improvement.
Author(s): Angela Dearinger
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1277-1278
Date: 09/2020
Type: Document
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State Innovation Model (SIM) Summative Evaluation Report: Activities and Goal Evaluation Award Year 2-4 (AY2-4)
Summarizes the process and implementation activities of the State Innovation Model (SIM) test grant program in Iowa during award years 2 through 4, which spanned November 2016 through April 2019. SIM test awards are administered by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center and allow states to implement and test strategies for health system transformation that meet the specific needs of residents of each state. Describes the process evaluation of SIM implementation activities and results of the 2016 and 2018 statewide evaluation surveys. Presents data on outcome measures regarding access and cost of care, diabetes, obesity, and tobacco use.
Author(s): Tessa Heeren, Rochelle Schultz Spinarski, Elizabeth Momany, et al.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Iowa Public Policy Center
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COVID-19 Testing - What RHCs Are Doing For Their Communities
Recording of an August 27, 2020, webinar discussing the efforts of three rural health clinics (RHCs) to provide COVID-19 testing services using COVID-19 funding in rural communities of South-Central Idaho, Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin, and Eastern North Carolina. Covers the challenges related to the availability of COVID-18 testing instruments and test kits, testing capacity and turnaround time, the provision of treatment for patients with COVID-19, and the RHC data collection requirement. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides, Transcript
Date: 08/2020
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
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OIG's Top Unimplemented Recommendations: Solutions To Reduce Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in HHS Programs: August 2020
Annual report identifying the top 25 unimplemented recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that, in OIG's view, would have the most substantial positive impact on Health and Human Services (HHS) programs. Positive impact may refer to cost savings, program efficacy and efficiency, and/or quality improvement. Primary areas of interest in the August 2020 edition include: reforming the hospital wage index system; ensuring that Medicaid managed care enrollees have timely access to behavioral health services; developing and implementing a staffing program for recruiting, retaining, and transitioning staff and leadership to remote Indian Health Service hospitals; and ensuring proper payments for 340B-purchased drugs.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Crisis Services: Meeting Needs, Saving Lives
Presents the National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care Best Practices Toolkit and a number of companion papers on crisis care. Toolkit highlights best practices for crisis care and the papers discuss a number of related topics, including homelessness, substance use, opioid-related deaths, and rural and frontier areas, among other issues.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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Policy Goals to Support the Healthcare Workforce in Healthy Aging Communities
Report describing a research project funded by the New Mexico Department of Health that examines behavioral healthcare workforce needs and the growing elderly population in rural Grant, Sierra, Socorro, Catron, and Valencia counties. Presents key points from discussions with project participants, including professionals in health promotion, hospital, community health centers, local government, and educational institutions. Offers policy goals related to regional services, economic planning, and expansion of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursable services.
Author(s): Susan Wilger, Anne Hayes Egan, Alexis Brandt, Micaela Imar de la Rosa
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Innovation
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The State of Rural Public Health: Enduring Needs in a New Decade
Examines changes in rural/urban disparities over a 40-year period, including differences in life expectancy, social determinants of health, challenges facing local health departments (LHDs), and more. Discusses factors contributing to disparities and provides recommendations to support LHDs and improve public health in rural communities. Supplement contains figures depicting county-level data on life expectancy at birth as well as rural/urban differences in spending at LHDs and transfers to local governments.
Additional links: Supplement
Author(s): Jonathon Leider, Michael Meit, J. Mac McCullough, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1283-1290
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
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Rural EMS COVID-19 Preparedness Checklist
Provides a checklist for rural response agencies to evaluate their current level of preparedness and identify areas that need additional action to better respond to COVID-19. Covers planning, strategy, personal protective equipment and supplies, workforce and recruiting, and funding.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Ambulance Association, Federal Healthcare Resilience Working Group
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Ohio Medicaid and Medicare Telehealth Reimbursement for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Rural Health Clinics (RHC)
Provides an overview of Medicaid and Medicare telehealth reimbursement policies for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in Ohio in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center
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