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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Improving Rural Oral Health: Six States' Response to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Oral Health Strategic Framework
Findings brief describing how Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina have responded to the Department of Health and Human Services' 2014-2017 goals for advancing oral health in America, with emphasis on programs available to children. Features statistics including number of dental insurance companies, number of public health dental clinics or Federally Qualified Health Centers providing oral health services, and number of full-time and part-time dentists and dental hygienists at these facilities in each of the six states.
Author(s): Amy B. Martin, Janice C. Probst, Karen M. Jones
Date: 08/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Regulating Network Adequacy for Rural Populations: Perspectives of Five States
Policy brief describing how California, Kentucky, Montana, Texas, and Wisconsin define insurance network adequacy and how much consideration is given to rural issues in regulating their networks. Features statistics including these states' rural population, rural percent of total population, rural area in square miles, number of marketplace networks, and percent that are narrow networks.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Carrie Henning-Smith, Jean Abraham, Ira Moscovice
Date: 08/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Tribal Nursing Homes: Communicating with Your Governing Board
Presents methods for tribal nursing home administrators to effectively communicate with their governing boards. Features examples from several tribes of the southern and western U.S., as well as several resources and toolkits that further explore effective modes of communication for long-term care facility governance.
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Rethinking Rural Hospitals
Discusses the various factors associated with rural hospital closures, and makes the case for adopting new, innovative approaches to rural healthcare delivery.
Author(s): Diana J. Mason
Citation: JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 318(2), 114-115
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
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Magnolia Regional Medical Center Excels as a Hospital in Transition
Documents Magnolia Regional Medical Center's (MRMC) top accomplishments after participating in the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) project and completing a financial operational assessment (FOA). Major areas of improvement include net income, net patient revenue, days cash on hand, swing bed utilization, and overall quality ratings.
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries with Disabilities, by End Stage Renal Disease Status, 2014
Data highlight describing the characteristics of disabled Medicare beneficiaries by end stage renal disease (ESRD) status. Uses data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse (CCW) and includes a breakdown of metropolitan, micropolitan, or rural residence of disabled Medicare beneficiaries with ESRD.
Author(s): Elsa Haile, Sonya Bowen, Kenneth Lindenfelser, Chris Haffer
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Air Ambulance: Data Collection and Transparency Needed to Enhance DOT Oversight
Addresses various aspects of air transport for critically ill patients, including the amount charged for service, factors affecting the service, and actions the federal government could take to provide pricing oversight. Discusses the implications and importance of air transport for rural areas throughout.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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The Financial Importance of Medicare Post-Acute and Hospice Care to Rural Hospitals
Findings brief describing variation in the number of hospitals in rural areas providing Medicare post-acute care (PAC) and hospice care, average amount of revenue generated for these services, and financial importance to rural hospitals. Includes statistics on 2015 Medicare PAC and hospice care revenue as percentage of patient revenue in 1,205 Critical Access Hospitals and 964 Prospective Payment System hospitals.
Author(s): Alex Schulte, H. Ann Howard, George H. Pink
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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How Western Kentucky Leveraged Medicaid Expansion to Increase Access to Health Care
Describes improvements in healthcare access and quality in Paducah and nearby counties from 2011-2014, when almost 500,000 people were added to the Medicaid rolls. Includes demographic statistics, difference in health system rank from 2012 to 2016, and map showing locations of 9 clinics that have opened or expanded during that time.
Author(s): Sarah Klein, Martha Hostetter, Douglas McCarthy
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Knowledge of Health Insurance Concepts and the Affordable Care Act among Rural Residents
Examines urban and rural residents' knowledge and use of various aspects of the Affordable Care Act Marketplace and subsidies, and changes in this knowledge between the last quarters of 2013 and 2014. Features statistics including numbers of people seeking information and levels of knowledge on various insurance-related topics, with breakdowns by age group, sex, race, health status, education, marital status, income, and urban or rural residence.
Author(s): Erika C. Ziller, Jennifer D. Lenardson, Amanda R. Burgess
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Maine Rural Health Research Center, Rural Health Research & Policy Centers
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