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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Long-term care

Post-Acute and Long-term Care Providers and Services Users in the United States, 2017–2018
Describes the supply, organizational characteristics, staffing, and services offered by post-acute and long-term care providers. Provides descriptions of service users, including residents of nursing homes and residential care communities, patients receiving home health or hospice care, and people who attend adult day services centers. Features statistics including distribution of post-acute and long-term care providers in 2017-2018, with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, or other areas.
Author(s): Manisha Sengupta, Jessica Penn Lendon, Christine Caffrey, Amanuel Melekin, Priyanka Singh
Date: 05/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Changes of Ownership of Hospital and Skilled Nursing Facilities: An Analysis of Newly-Released CMS Data
Examines data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding changes in hospital and skilled nursing facility (SNF) ownership between 2016 and 2021. Presents data on rates of hospital ownership changes by hospital characteristics, including rural and urban location and Critical Access Hospital status. Discusses how future research can support policymaking and research on consolidation, healthcare quality, and healthcare costs.
Author(s): W. Pete Welch, Joel Ruhter, Arielle Bosworth, Nancy De Lew, Benjamin D. Sommers
Date: 04/2022
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2022
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for healthcare facilities and services, improving Medicare payment for post-acute care, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and the impact of healthcare provider consolidation.
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicaid and Counties: Understanding the Program and Why It Matters to Counties
Discusses the importance of Medicaid in county-level healthcare. Describes the role Medicaid plays in financing and delivering healthcare for children, the elderly, the disabled, and rural residents. Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicaid program and challenges for county governments.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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January 2022 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, physician and other health professional services, outpatient dialysis services and improving the ESRD payment system, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, long-term care hospital services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, hospice services, and ambulatory surgical center services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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The National Imperative to Improve Nursing Home Quality: Honoring Our Commitment to Residents, Families, and Staff
Examines how the United States delivers, finances, regulates, and measures the quality of nursing home care. Discusses the nursing home care landscape, quality measurement and improvement, workforce, safety, payment and financing, and health information technology. Identifies seven goals and supporting recommendations that provide a framework for a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of care in nursing homes.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Literature Review on Differences in Care Provided in Urban and Rural Nursing Homes in the United States
Summarizes results of a review of peer-reviewed research on differences in rural and urban nursing home care quality. Covers access to mental health services and supports, hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths, and hospice care utilization. Highlights implications for future research.
Author(s): Denise D. Quigley, Leah V. Estrada, Gregory L. Alexander, Andrew Dick, Patricia W. Stone
Citation: Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47(12), 48-56
Date: 12/2021
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Improving Health in Rural Communities: FY 2021 Year in Review
Provides an overview of Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) programs and activities that have affected rural health and healthcare in fiscal year 2021. Focuses on 10 priority areas: COVID-19, Federally-facilitated and State Marketplaces; Medicare payment and policy; practitioner workforce; Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment, payment, and policy; long-term services and supports; maternal health; mental health and substance use disorders; models and demonstrations, and quality and equity.
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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The Impact of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities
Examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities. Covers access to healthcare and direct care workers, congregate care settings and transition, education, employment, effective communication, and mental health and suicide prevention services. Identifies challenges to rural residents throughout, including access to broadband in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to federal and state policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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Rural/Urban Differences in Discharge from Rehabilitation in Older Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury
Compares rural and urban rates of discharge from skilled nursing facilities for 61,021 older adults with traumatic brain injury between 2011 and 2015 to determine quality of care. Discusses factors predicting successful discharge and reasons for not successfully discharging between rural and urban patients.
Author(s): Marie C. Anderson, Emily Evans, Mark R. Zonfrillo, Kali S. Thomas
Citation: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 69(6), 1601-1608
Date: 06/2021
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