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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

A Rural Hospital Gets A Second Chance
Describes efforts undertaken in 2016 and 2017 to save an independent rural North Carolina hospital from closure, by affiliating with a larger healthcare system.
Author(s): Dana M. Weston
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 79(6), 373-374
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
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Looking Back But Leaning Forward: New Opportunities and Challenges for North Carolina's Rural Communities
Issue brief describing efforts among local and state leaders to promote community engagement in rural North Carolina and to address shortages of physicians and advanced practitioners. Also examines challenges faced by rural North Carolina hospitals, uses of telemedicine, plans to promote quality care for children and families, and recommendations for the future.
Author(s): Thomas G. Irons, Margaret L. Sauer
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 79(6), 366-371
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
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The Rural Hospital and Health System Affiliation Landscape - A Brief Review
Describes choices available to rural hospitals and health systems when considering affiliations with urban-based hospitals, examines motivations for these affiliations, and presents a list of some affiliation structures with examples. Features statistics showing trends in hospital system affiliation by census region from 2007-2016, with breakdowns by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan hospitals and nonmetropolitan Critical Access Hospitals.
Author(s): Onyinye Oyeka, Fred Ullrich, A. Clinton MacKinney, Joseph Lupica, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Significant Vulnerabilities Exist in the Hospital Wage Index System for Medicare Payments
Reports on 41 examinations of wage data of individual acute care hospitals from 2004 to 2017 to describe significant vulnerabilities observed in the wage index system for Medicare payments. Includes discussion on the rural floor wage index and the effects it has on wage index accuracy. Offers recommendations to reform the hospital wage index system.
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Variation in Interoperability Among U.S. Non-Federal Acute Care Hospitals in 2017
Provides information on non-federal acute care hospitals sending, receiving, finding, and integrating electronic patient health information. Offers statistics on the four domains of interoperability and summarizes common barriers to exchanging electronic patient health information for small, rural, and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Yuriy Pylypchuk, Christian Johnson, JaWanna Henry, Diana Ciricean
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Washington County Memorial Hospital Improving Patient Experience
Highlights a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Potosi, Missouri that participated in the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) project. Improvements focused on quality reporting, patient communication, patient rounding, and more.
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Trends in Hospital System Affiliation, 2007-2016
Policy brief reporting trends in hospital system affiliation from 2007 to 2016 for hospitals in metro and nonmetro areas, and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Presents statistics on hospital system affiliation by hospital characteristics and highlights trends in hospital system affiliation by Census region.
Author(s): Onyinye Oyeka, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Critical Access Hospitals' Community Health Needs Assessments and Implementation Plans: How Do They Align?
Examines how Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) are using community health needs assessments to improve population health. Highlights common community health issues identified by the needs assessments, types of strategies CAHs used to address them, and ways to improve on their efforts to meet community needs. Discusses how Flex programs can support CAHs in their work and includes a list of resources to help CAHs.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Zachariah Croll, Lauren Zoll, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Northern Maine Medical Center – Fort Kent, Maine: Purchase of Retail Pharmacy Enhances Services to the Community
Profiles a hospital in rural Maine that purchased a community pharmacy to offer prevention and wellness services, reduce readmissions, and improve medication adherence.
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Report to Congress: Rural Community Hospital Demonstration
Summarizes findings from the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) over the twelve years authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Reports on the characteristics of the participating hospitals and the effect of the demonstration on hospital finances and other outcomes. Also discusses steps the hospitals expected to take at the end of the demonstration, if it had not been extended for an additional five years by the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016.
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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