Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Hospitals
Tax-Exempt Hospitals Provided Nearly $130 Billion in Total Benefits to Their Communities: Results from 2020 Tax-Exempt Hospitals' Schedule H Community Benefit Reports
Summarizes the benefits nonprofit hospitals provide their communities based on an analysis of IRS Form 990 Schedule H. Addresses the percent spent on financial assistance, health professions education, community building activities, and other categories included on Schedule H. Includes data for rural and Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Summarizes the benefits nonprofit hospitals provide their communities based on an analysis of IRS Form 990 Schedule H. Addresses the percent spent on financial assistance, health professions education, community building activities, and other categories included on Schedule H. Includes data for rural and Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Recovering from a Cybersecurity Attack and Protecting the Future in Small, Rural Health Organizations
Discusses the impact cyber-attacks can have on rural healthcare facilities. Features two Critical Access Hospital leaders describing attacks at their organizations. Shares insights from an information technology compliance expert, including actions organizations can take to protect themselves.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Discusses the impact cyber-attacks can have on rural healthcare facilities. Features two Critical Access Hospital leaders describing attacks at their organizations. Shares insights from an information technology compliance expert, including actions organizations can take to protect themselves.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2021 Emergency Department Summary Tables
Provides data on ambulatory care emergency department (ED) hospital visits. Table 1 provides metropolitan/nonmetropolitan ED visit data based on hospital location.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Provides data on ambulatory care emergency department (ED) hospital visits. Table 1 provides metropolitan/nonmetropolitan ED visit data based on hospital location.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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September 2023 MACPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) September 2023 meeting. Covers managed care denials and appeals, Medicaid demographic data collection, the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement, the MACPAC hospital supplemental payment work plan, a review of the proposed rule on nursing facility staffing and payment transparency, and school-based behavioral health services for students enrolled in Medicaid, among other things. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) September 2023 meeting. Covers managed care denials and appeals, Medicaid demographic data collection, the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement, the MACPAC hospital supplemental payment work plan, a review of the proposed rule on nursing facility staffing and payment transparency, and school-based behavioral health services for students enrolled in Medicaid, among other things. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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MedPAC Response to a Congressional Request for Information on Improving Access to Health Care in Rural and Underserved Areas
Letter to the House Committee on Ways and Means request for information on improving access to healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Covers MedPAC recommendations for policies to target payments to better support rural and vulnerable beneficiaries' access to care, including the Rural Emergency Hospital program and a proposed Medicare Safety-Net Index; changes to the hospital wage index to address geographic inequities; and the alignment of payment rates across ambulatory settings for certain services.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Letter to the House Committee on Ways and Means request for information on improving access to healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Covers MedPAC recommendations for policies to target payments to better support rural and vulnerable beneficiaries' access to care, including the Rural Emergency Hospital program and a proposed Medicare Safety-Net Index; changes to the hospital wage index to address geographic inequities; and the alignment of payment rates across ambulatory settings for certain services.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Characteristics of 30-Day All-cause Hospital Readmissions, 2016–2020
Examines trends in 30-day all-cause hospital readmissions among patients 1 year old and older in the United States between 2016 and 2020. Explores changes in readmission rates from the pre-pandemic period (2016-2019) to 2020. Presents data by primary payer, patient location, and race and ethnicity.
Author(s): H. Joanna Jiang, Molly Hensche
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Examines trends in 30-day all-cause hospital readmissions among patients 1 year old and older in the United States between 2016 and 2020. Explores changes in readmission rates from the pre-pandemic period (2016-2019) to 2020. Presents data by primary payer, patient location, and race and ethnicity.
Author(s): H. Joanna Jiang, Molly Hensche
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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September 2023 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) September 2022 meeting. Covers Medicare Advantage benefits and coding, the Acute Care Hospital at Home program, and the shift of some surgical procedures from hospital outpatient departments to ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) September 2022 meeting. Covers Medicare Advantage benefits and coding, the Acute Care Hospital at Home program, and the shift of some surgical procedures from hospital outpatient departments to ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Improving Hospital Transfers: A Step Toward Equitable, Patient-Centered Acute Care
Discuss emergency department (ED) transfers, including the importance of timely transfers, where patients transferred from the ED are more likely to initially present, and how transferred patients are considered in hospital quality metrics. Identifies three ways to incentivize hospital coordination to improve patient-centered care for transfer patients.
Author(s): Charleen Hsuan
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 09/2023
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Discuss emergency department (ED) transfers, including the importance of timely transfers, where patients transferred from the ED are more likely to initially present, and how transferred patients are considered in hospital quality metrics. Identifies three ways to incentivize hospital coordination to improve patient-centered care for transfer patients.
Author(s): Charleen Hsuan
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 09/2023
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Optimizing Inpatient Bed Management in a Rural Community-Based Hospital: A Quality Improvement Initiative
Provides an overview of a project aimed at maintaining appropriate hospital bed capacity within a hub-and-spoke healthcare system in rural, southwest Minnesota. Discusses project phases of discovery, planning, and implementation, as well as the strategy to increase capacity at the tertiary/hub medical center by utilizing beds at partner/spoke hospitals for less complex or acute inpatient stays.
Author(s): Brian N. Bartlett, Nadine N. Vanhoudt, Hanyin Wang, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 23, 1000
Date: 09/2023
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Provides an overview of a project aimed at maintaining appropriate hospital bed capacity within a hub-and-spoke healthcare system in rural, southwest Minnesota. Discusses project phases of discovery, planning, and implementation, as well as the strategy to increase capacity at the tertiary/hub medical center by utilizing beds at partner/spoke hospitals for less complex or acute inpatient stays.
Author(s): Brian N. Bartlett, Nadine N. Vanhoudt, Hanyin Wang, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 23, 1000
Date: 09/2023
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The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM): Third Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluates the third performance year of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), an initiative designed to test if global budgets can help rural hospitals improve their financial viability, provide flexibility to meet locally defined community health needs, and reduce overall healthcare spending. Provides an overview of the model and describes the implementation experience of participating hospitals and payers. Presents a descriptive quantitative assessment of financial performance, spending and utilization, access to care, and quality of care outcomes from 2016, the model's baseline, through 2021. Includes three case studies discussing three themes: the recruitment and retention of system-affiliated hospitals, engagement and coordination with community organizations and providers, and exploring service line changes.
Additional links: Appendix, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Evaluates the third performance year of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), an initiative designed to test if global budgets can help rural hospitals improve their financial viability, provide flexibility to meet locally defined community health needs, and reduce overall healthcare spending. Provides an overview of the model and describes the implementation experience of participating hospitals and payers. Presents a descriptive quantitative assessment of financial performance, spending and utilization, access to care, and quality of care outcomes from 2016, the model's baseline, through 2021. Includes three case studies discussing three themes: the recruitment and retention of system-affiliated hospitals, engagement and coordination with community organizations and providers, and exploring service line changes.
Additional links: Appendix, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NORC at the University of Chicago
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