Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality
Medical Center Barbour Reduces Readmission Rates
Highlights the accomplishments of Medical Center Barbour (MCB), a prospective payment system (PPS) hospital located in Eufaula, Alabama, as it progressed through a Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) quality of care and transition of care project. MCB's top accomplishments include reducing readmissions, improving communication among staff and patients, and enhancing the discharge process.
Additional links: One-Page Summary
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Highlights the accomplishments of Medical Center Barbour (MCB), a prospective payment system (PPS) hospital located in Eufaula, Alabama, as it progressed through a Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) quality of care and transition of care project. MCB's top accomplishments include reducing readmissions, improving communication among staff and patients, and enhancing the discharge process.
Additional links: One-Page Summary
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Advancing Care Coordination and Interoperability for Underserved Communities through Health IT Training
Provides an overview of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC) workforce initiative, which is designed to help build a skilled health information technology (HIT) workforce. Two program recipients - the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTH) and Columbia University - are focusing their efforts on improving care coordination and interoperability by training professionals who work with underserved patients in rural or urban settings.
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Provides an overview of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC) workforce initiative, which is designed to help build a skilled health information technology (HIT) workforce. Two program recipients - the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTH) and Columbia University - are focusing their efforts on improving care coordination and interoperability by training professionals who work with underserved patients in rural or urban settings.
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Rural Wisconsin Health 2017
Reports on Wisconsin rural health outcomes and factors, including health behaviors, clinical care, and social and economic factors. Covers information on the built and physical environment. Provides rural, urban, and statewide data.
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Rural Health
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Reports on Wisconsin rural health outcomes and factors, including health behaviors, clinical care, and social and economic factors. Covers information on the built and physical environment. Provides rural, urban, and statewide data.
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Rural Health
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Hospital Value-Based Purchasing: CMS Should Take Steps to Ensure Lower Quality Hospitals Do Not Qualify for Bonuses
Examines the scoring methodology used by the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program, which measures quality and efficiency within multiple hospital types including small, rural, and safety-net hospitals. Addresses differences in how safety net, small rural, and small urban hospitals performed, how payment adjustments changed for them over time, and the impact of an efficiency score on payment adjustments. Supports revising the methodology to apply the standards more evenly.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Examines the scoring methodology used by the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program, which measures quality and efficiency within multiple hospital types including small, rural, and safety-net hospitals. Addresses differences in how safety net, small rural, and small urban hospitals performed, how payment adjustments changed for them over time, and the impact of an efficiency score on payment adjustments. Supports revising the methodology to apply the standards more evenly.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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CMS Hospital Quality Star Rating: For 762 Rural Hospitals, No Stars Is the Problem
Examines the characteristics of rural hospitals with and without quality star ratings, and explains how the current methodology disproportionately affects rural hospitals. Makes recommendations for improving the utility of the Hospital Quality Star Rating system, especially for the purpose of comparing quality among rural hospitals or between rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Kristie W. Thompson, Randy K. Randolph, Kristin L. Reiter, George H. Pink, G. Mark Holmes
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Examines the characteristics of rural hospitals with and without quality star ratings, and explains how the current methodology disproportionately affects rural hospitals. Makes recommendations for improving the utility of the Hospital Quality Star Rating system, especially for the purpose of comparing quality among rural hospitals or between rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Kristie W. Thompson, Randy K. Randolph, Kristin L. Reiter, George H. Pink, G. Mark Holmes
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Prevalence of and Interventions to Reduce Health Disparities in Vulnerable Veteran Populations: A Map of the Evidence
Identifies studies that examine disparities in utilization, quality of healthcare, or health of veterans, those that evaluate interventions that mitigate disparities in the Veterans Health Administration, and those examining health disparities. Features statistics on topics including health disparities according to rural residence or distance from a VHA Medical Center.
Author(s): Karli Kondo, Allison Low, Teresa Everson, et al.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: VA Health Services Research & Development Service
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Identifies studies that examine disparities in utilization, quality of healthcare, or health of veterans, those that evaluate interventions that mitigate disparities in the Veterans Health Administration, and those examining health disparities. Features statistics on topics including health disparities according to rural residence or distance from a VHA Medical Center.
Author(s): Karli Kondo, Allison Low, Teresa Everson, et al.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: VA Health Services Research & Development Service
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A Study of HCAHPS Best Practices in High Performing Critical Access Hospitals
Provides an overview of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, and presents HCAHPS best practices of high performing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Findings are based on focus group discussions with 38 hospitals across 17 states.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Provides an overview of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, and presents HCAHPS best practices of high performing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Findings are based on focus group discussions with 38 hospitals across 17 states.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Identifying Adverse Drug Events in Rural Hospitals: An Eight-State Study
Analyzes adverse drug events (ADEs), or events involving patient injury resulting from medication use, and identifies ways to improve medication safety in rural hospitals. Uses 2013 data from 8 states with significant rural populations, and examines ADE rates based on hospital characteristics and across 4 main categories: steroids, antibiotics, opiates/narcotics, and anticoagulants. Companion brief lists resources that can be used to reduce and prevent ADEs in rural hospitals, including rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Additional links: Resources to Reduce Adverse Drug Events in Rural Hospitals
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Peiyin Hung, Emma Distel, Shailendra Prasad
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Analyzes adverse drug events (ADEs), or events involving patient injury resulting from medication use, and identifies ways to improve medication safety in rural hospitals. Uses 2013 data from 8 states with significant rural populations, and examines ADE rates based on hospital characteristics and across 4 main categories: steroids, antibiotics, opiates/narcotics, and anticoagulants. Companion brief lists resources that can be used to reduce and prevent ADEs in rural hospitals, including rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Additional links: Resources to Reduce Adverse Drug Events in Rural Hospitals
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Peiyin Hung, Emma Distel, Shailendra Prasad
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations: May 2017
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 May 2017 edition include: Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing bed reimbursement rates, Medicare payment policies, combating prescription opioid abuse, and quality compliance in Indian Health Service (IHS) hospitals.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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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 May 2017 edition include: Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing bed reimbursement rates, Medicare payment policies, combating prescription opioid abuse, and quality compliance in Indian Health Service (IHS) hospitals.
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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A Multicomponent Quality Improvement Intervention to Improve Blood Pressure and Reduce Racial Disparities in Rural Primary Care Practices
Assesses the effectiveness of a multicomponent practice-based quality improvement (QI) intervention to lower blood pressure of patients with uncontrolled hypertension and to determine if there would be a variation of effectiveness by race. Participants in the project included 525 adults with hypertension, providers and staff of which nearly 70% were African American. The study took place at primary care practices located in Lenoir County, an economically distressed county in Eastern North Carolina.
Author(s): Crystal W. Cené, Jacqueline R. Halladay, Ziya Gizlice, et al.
Citation: Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 19(4), 351-360
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
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Assesses the effectiveness of a multicomponent practice-based quality improvement (QI) intervention to lower blood pressure of patients with uncontrolled hypertension and to determine if there would be a variation of effectiveness by race. Participants in the project included 525 adults with hypertension, providers and staff of which nearly 70% were African American. The study took place at primary care practices located in Lenoir County, an economically distressed county in Eastern North Carolina.
Author(s): Crystal W. Cené, Jacqueline R. Halladay, Ziya Gizlice, et al.
Citation: Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 19(4), 351-360
Date: 04/2017
Type: Document
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