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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals

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
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
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
Sponsoring organization: Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/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
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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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
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
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Factors Affecting the Development of Medicaid Hospital Payment Policies: Findings from Structured Interviews in Five States
Study examining Medicaid hospital payment policies with a focus on factors affecting payment mix and structure, the impact of state policies and financing methods, how states target hospital services or types such as rural hospitals, barriers to and drivers of change to payment methods, and more. Focuses on 5 states that made or are making significant hospital policy changes: Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Virginia. Appendix B includes state profiles.
Author(s): Thomas Marks, Kathy Gifford, Steven Perlin, Melisa Byrd, Timothy Beger
Date: 10/2018
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Ensuring Access to Quality Health Care in Vulnerable Communities
Highlights the health characteristics and conditions of vulnerable populations in rural and urban communities, and the essential healthcare services as identified by the American Hospital Association Task Force on Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities. Discusses several strategies recommended by the task force to address social determinants of health, enhance virtual care services to reform healthcare delivery and payment methods, and support hospitals in their efforts to provide the needed health services.
Author(s): Jay Bhatt, Priya Bathija
Citation: Academic Medicine, 93(9), 1271-1275
Date: 09/2018
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Telestroke Adoption among Community Hospitals in North Carolina: A Cross-sectional Study
Discusses the advantages of implementing telestroke in rural acute care hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), where stroke mortality is higher than in urban settings. Identifies the community and hospital characteristics associated with the adoption of the telestroke approach in acute care hospitals in North Carolina.
Author(s): Christopher M. Shea, Amir Alishahi Tabriz, Kea Turner, Steve North, Kristin L. Reiter
Citation: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 27(9), 2411-2417
Date: 09/2018
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Promising Practice: Texas SORH's Handheld Ultrasound Project - An Innovative Approach to Providing Training & Technology to Small Rural Hospitals
Details a pilot program implemented by the Texas State Office of Rural Health that allows rural hospitals to use handheld ultrasound machines as a cost-effective method for improving quality of care.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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