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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare quality

Project ECHO: Bridging the Gap in Health Care for Rural and Underserved Communities
Discusses the Project ECHO model and how it allows physicians, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians to jointly manage complex illness and promotes the use of best practices in care, while enabling patients to receive treatment in their rural communities.
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Impacts on Rural People, Places, and Providers: A Second Look
Addresses the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on rural communities with a focus on health insurance coverage, Medicare and Medicaid payment, quality and delivery system reform, public health, healthcare workforce, and long-term care.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, et al.
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Program Eligibility, Beneficiary Assignment, and Quality Measures
Discusses the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) eligibility, participation requirements, beneficiary assignment processes, and quality measures to assist rural providers considering Accountable Care Organization (ACO) formation.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller, Xi Zhu, Thomas Vaughn
Date: 04/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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California State Health Care Innovation Plan
Describes California's plan to reform their healthcare system to meet the Triple Aim of better health, better healthcare, and lower costs. Discusses the proposed payment and delivery system initiatives supporting team-based care with a focus on maternity care, health homes, palliative care, and accountable care communities. Addresses the needed building blocks to support health, healthcare transformation, and payment reform including workforce training, health information technology technical assistance and research, development of cost and quality reporting systems, and payment reform.
Additional links: Appendices
Date: 03/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: California Health and Human Services Agency
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Compendium of Priority Recommendations: March 2014
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 March 2014 edition include: improving quality assurance programs in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and updating location requirements and conditions of participation for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Date: 03/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Rural Hospital System Transformation
Discusses how Mercy Health Network, a group of 28 hospitals in rural Iowa, improved system-wide performance by implementing a Lean methodology. Focuses on learning from outside the healthcare industry, identifying the appropriate leaders, and utilizing innovative approaches to do more with less.
Date: 03/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Chronic Disease Assessment Report for North Dakota
Presents the results of a statewide health assessment examining chronic disease in North Dakota. Provides an overview of the state's population characteristics, social and economic factors, and health outcomes.
Author(s): Nikki Massmann, Brad Gibbens, Mandi Peterson, Rebecca Quinn
Date: 02/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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Facilitators of Health Systems Change for Tobacco Dependence Treatment: A Qualitative Study of Stakeholders' Perceptions
An evaluation of tobacco treatment programs in rural and urban health systems in Minnesota that demonstrates they can implement extensive changes in a short time to enhance treatment of tobacco dependence. Emphasizes the use of electronic health records and healthcare quality measures to improve the healthcare environment for tobacco dependence.
Author(s): Amanda L Jansen, Traci R Capesius, Randi Lachter, Lija O Greenseid, Paula A Keller
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 14, 575
Date: 2014
Type: Document
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Effects of Distance to Care and Rural or Urban Residence on Receipt of Radiation Therapy among North Carolina Medicare Enrollees with Breast Cancer
Discusses the effect of distance on quality of care for Medicare-insured patients with breast cancer living in rural and urban areas of North Carolina.
Author(s): Stephanie B. Wheeler, Tzy-Mey Kuo, Danielle Durham, et al.
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 75(4), 239-246
Date: 2014
Type: Document
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Impact of Rural Residence and Health System Structure on Quality of Liver Care
A study of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients with Hepatitis C (HCV) to ascertain the extent that rural residency can impact access to HCV specialists and quality of liver care.
Author(s): Catherine Rongey, Hui Shen, Nathan Hamilton, et al.
Citation: PLoS One, 8(12)
Date: 12/2013
Type: Document
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