Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality
Confronting Rural America's Health Care Crisis
Offers policy recommendations to stabilize the rural healthcare infrastructure and ensuring local access to care. Discusses strategies to provide financial relief to rural providers, preserve obstetric services, expand telehealth services, and address workforce shortages. Includes brief references to policy actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional links: Rural Hospital Transformation Models, Summary, The Case for Expanding Telehealth Services, July 2020
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center Rural Health Task Force
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Offers policy recommendations to stabilize the rural healthcare infrastructure and ensuring local access to care. Discusses strategies to provide financial relief to rural providers, preserve obstetric services, expand telehealth services, and address workforce shortages. Includes brief references to policy actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional links: Rural Hospital Transformation Models, Summary, The Case for Expanding Telehealth Services, July 2020
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center Rural Health Task Force
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Impact of CAH Participation in Flex Financial and Operations Improvement Activities on Hospital Financial Indicators
Explores the association between Critical Access Hospitals' (CAH) participation in financial and operational improvement activities between 2015 and 2018 with improved financial indicators. Compares CAH financial indicators and other variables including Rural Health Clinic operation, ownership type, and census region, by the number of years of participation in CAH improvement activities.
Author(s): Kathleen Knocke, Kristin Reiter, George H. Pink
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Explores the association between Critical Access Hospitals' (CAH) participation in financial and operational improvement activities between 2015 and 2018 with improved financial indicators. Compares CAH financial indicators and other variables including Rural Health Clinic operation, ownership type, and census region, by the number of years of participation in CAH improvement activities.
Author(s): Kathleen Knocke, Kristin Reiter, George H. Pink
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on Contract Year 2021 and 2022 Policy and Technical Changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D
Responds to a proposed rule to revise regulations for Medicare Advantage (MA) and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit program (Part D). Provides comments on CMS proposals regarding out-of-network telehealth benefits, updates to the quality rating models for MA and Part D plans, and changes to MA network adequacy standards. Discusses how changes to network adequacy standards would impact access to dialysis facilities for beneficiaries in micropolitan counties, rural counties, and counties with extreme access considerations (CEAC).
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Responds to a proposed rule to revise regulations for Medicare Advantage (MA) and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit program (Part D). Provides comments on CMS proposals regarding out-of-network telehealth benefits, updates to the quality rating models for MA and Part D plans, and changes to MA network adequacy standards. Discusses how changes to network adequacy standards would impact access to dialysis facilities for beneficiaries in micropolitan counties, rural counties, and counties with extreme access considerations (CEAC).
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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2018 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Provides a comprehensive summary and data analysis of healthcare quality and access in the U.S. Includes a discussion of disparities encountered by race/ethnicity and geographic locations along the rural-urban continuum. Addresses access to healthcare, patient safety, person-centered care, care coordination, affordability, healthy living, and effective treatment.
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Provides a comprehensive summary and data analysis of healthcare quality and access in the U.S. Includes a discussion of disparities encountered by race/ethnicity and geographic locations along the rural-urban continuum. Addresses access to healthcare, patient safety, person-centered care, care coordination, affordability, healthy living, and effective treatment.
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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March 2020 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2020 meeting. Covers Medicare Shared Savings Program vulnerabilities, the role of specialists in alternative payment models and accountable care organizations, incentives in Medicare Part D, the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program, and Medicare's end-stage renal disease (ESRD) prospective payment system. Includes a discussion of ESRD payment adjustments for rural and low-volume providers.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2020 meeting. Covers Medicare Shared Savings Program vulnerabilities, the role of specialists in alternative payment models and accountable care organizations, incentives in Medicare Part D, the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program, and Medicare's end-stage renal disease (ESRD) prospective payment system. Includes a discussion of ESRD payment adjustments for rural and low-volume providers.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Grantee Directory: Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Grant Program, 2019-2022
Provides contact information and a brief overview for 32 initiatives funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy through the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Grant Program in the 2019-2022 funding cycle. The program supports rural primary care providers implementing quality improvement activities, with the goal of promoting the development of an evidence-based culture and delivery of coordinated care in the primary care setting.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
Provides contact information and a brief overview for 32 initiatives funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy through the Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Grant Program in the 2019-2022 funding cycle. The program supports rural primary care providers implementing quality improvement activities, with the goal of promoting the development of an evidence-based culture and delivery of coordinated care in the primary care setting.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
Related funding:
Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Grant Program
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Second Report to Congress: Social Risk Factors and Performance in Medicare's Value-Based Purchasing Programs
Analyzes the effect of individuals' social risk factors on quality measures, resource utilization, and other Medicare program measures using Medicare and non-Medicare data sources. Describes how Medicare value-based purchasing (VBP) programs impact providers who serve socially at-risk beneficiaries. Categorizes rurality as a social risk factor. Explores emerging trends among providers addressing social risk factors through cooperation with social services and community-based organizations. Offers policy recommendations for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to account for social risk factors in VBP programs and achieve better outcomes for those with social risk factors. Second of two reports required by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014. See the first report.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Analyzes the effect of individuals' social risk factors on quality measures, resource utilization, and other Medicare program measures using Medicare and non-Medicare data sources. Describes how Medicare value-based purchasing (VBP) programs impact providers who serve socially at-risk beneficiaries. Categorizes rurality as a social risk factor. Explores emerging trends among providers addressing social risk factors through cooperation with social services and community-based organizations. Offers policy recommendations for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to account for social risk factors in VBP programs and achieve better outcomes for those with social risk factors. Second of two reports required by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014. See the first report.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Antibiotic Resistance: Additional Federal Actions Needed to Better Determine Magnitude and Reduce Impact
Explores four challenges that federal agencies face in addressing antibiotic resistance. Provides eight recommendations for federal agencies to strengthen their efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. Includes references to antibiotic stewardship guidance and programs for Critical Access Hospitals throughout.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Explores four challenges that federal agencies face in addressing antibiotic resistance. Provides eight recommendations for federal agencies to strengthen their efforts to combat antibiotic resistance. Includes references to antibiotic stewardship guidance and programs for Critical Access Hospitals throughout.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Identifying Measures and Data Elements for the HRSA Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Grant Program
Research brief identifying the standardized set of measures used for data collection by the Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Grant Program grantees. Explores ways in which emergency department-based telehealth services can be used in rural hospital emergency departments.
Author(s): Marcia M. Ward, Fred Ullrich, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, et al.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Telehealth Research Center
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Research brief identifying the standardized set of measures used for data collection by the Evidence-Based Tele-Emergency Network Grant Program grantees. Explores ways in which emergency department-based telehealth services can be used in rural hospital emergency departments.
Author(s): Marcia M. Ward, Fred Ullrich, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, et al.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Telehealth Research Center
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Interim Evaluation of California's Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi‐Cal (PRIME) Program
Reports on California's Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal Program (PRIME), approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to modify Medicaid programs and implement innovative delivery reforms. PRIME uses evidence-based quality improvement methods that require hospitals to establish performance baselines, institute targets for improvement, and evaluate the success of quality improvement interventions on an ongoing basis. The analysis of the program included 52 designated public hospitals and district/municipal hospitals, with 17 of the latter being Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Nadereh Pourat, Xiao Chen, Ana E. Martinez, et al.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: California Department of Health Care Services, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
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Reports on California's Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal Program (PRIME), approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to modify Medicaid programs and implement innovative delivery reforms. PRIME uses evidence-based quality improvement methods that require hospitals to establish performance baselines, institute targets for improvement, and evaluate the success of quality improvement interventions on an ongoing basis. The analysis of the program included 52 designated public hospitals and district/municipal hospitals, with 17 of the latter being Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Nadereh Pourat, Xiao Chen, Ana E. Martinez, et al.
Date: 03/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: California Department of Health Care Services, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
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