Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

Telehealth: Mapping the Evidence for Patient Outcomes From Systematic Reviews
Presents a literature review and resulting evidence map for telehealth impacts on clinical outcomes for use by policymakers and other healthcare leaders. Identifies key areas that lack evidence-based research and suggests future studies needed to aid systematic review.
Author(s): Annette M. Totten, Dana M. Womack, Karen B. Eden, et al.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
view details
National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Chartbook on Care Coordination
A summary of trends in Care Coordination from the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (QDR) for 2015. Includes data and statistics by metropolitan statistical area with a focus on groups with disparities in care coordination regarding hospital and emergency department visits, discharge, readmission, use of ED for chronic healthcare, and potentially avoidable hospitalizations. Also highlights the use of electronic health records and electronic exchange and how that affects care coordination and quality.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
view details
Hospital Compare Quality Measure Results for CAHs, Q2 2014 - Q1 2015
Discusses the reporting rates and performance of U.S. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) on CMS Hospital Compare quality measures. Includes data and statistics comparing inpatient and outpatient CAH participation, state rankings, process of care, median time to receiving care, and structural quality measures. Also includes links to state-specific reports for 45 states.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Tami Swenson, Alex Evenson
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2016
Includes chapters on pricing and payment systems, Medicare drug spending, Part B drug and oncology payment policy issues, improving Part D, improving efficiency and preserving access to emergency care in rural areas, telehealth services and Medicare, and issues affecting dual-eligible beneficiaries. Rural providers and rural patient populations are discussed throughout the report.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Association Between the Value-Based Purchasing Pay for Performance Program and Patient Mortality in US Hospitals: Observational Study
Examines the impact of Medicare's Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program on mortality for pneumonia, heart failure, and acute myocardial infarction by comparing data from acute care hospitals participating in the program to data from over 1,300 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and 44 hospitals in Maryland not in the program.
Author(s): Jose F. Figueroa, Yusuke Tsugawa, Jie Zheng, E. John Orav, Ashish K. Jha
Citation: BMJ, 9(353), i2214
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
view details
Pender Community Hospital Surpassing Project Goals
Explains how Pender Community Hospital (PCH), a 21-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) located in Pender, Nebraska, improved its financial and operational performance through the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) Project. Focuses discussion on relocating the clinic, enhancing retail pharmacy and swing bed services, increasing marketing efforts, and restructuring therapy programs.
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
view details
Innovation in Rural Health Care: Contemporary Efforts to Transform into High Performance Systems
Provides themes and strategies focused on reducing the challenges related to healthcare innovation in rural areas based on discussions with rural and frontier innovators held September 2013 and July 2015. Includes a brief summary of programs and interventions developed by the rural and frontier organizations participating in these discussions.
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
view details
Quality Measures and Sociodemographic Risk Factors: The Rural Context
Demonstrates how rurality and sociodemographic variables may impact patient outcomes for rural populations using rural appropriate quality measures. Estimates the impact of adjusting quality measurement for the rural environment.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Katy B. Kozhimannil, Shailendra Prasad, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
LGBTQ Healthcare: Building Inclusive Rural Practices
Discusses the challenges rural LGBTQ individuals face in accessing quality care and what rural healthcare providers can do to improve the healthcare experience for this patient population.
Author(s): Zachary Toliver
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Effects of Community-Based Health Worker Interventions to Improve Chronic Disease Management and Care Among Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review
Reports on a review of 67 studies evaluating the effectiveness of community-based health workers (CBHWs) as an intervention model for chronic disease management and care among low-income, underserved, and racial and ethnic minority populations at risk for health disparities. Discusses the roles and tasks of CBHWs, the effectiveness of their intervention, their qualifications and training, and the reimbursement and sustainability of CBHWs.
Author(s): Kyounghae Kim, Janet S. Choi, Eunsuk Choi, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 106(4), e3–e28
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
view details