Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
Future of Emergency Care Series: Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains
Part two in a series of three reports from the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System. Examines pediatric emergency and trauma care. This report is also a follow-up to the 1993 report Emergency Medical Services for Children. Discusses issues related to rural pediatric emergency and trauma care.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2007
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Part two in a series of three reports from the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System. Examines pediatric emergency and trauma care. This report is also a follow-up to the 1993 report Emergency Medical Services for Children. Discusses issues related to rural pediatric emergency and trauma care.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2007
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Rural Payment Provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
Examines the impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) provisions on rural hospital payments. Present the effect of eight MMA provisions on Medicare inpatient and outpatient payments to traditional (non-CAH) hospitals. Summarizes the MMA changes to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) payment policies discussed in MedPAC's interim report. Examines the effects of higher payments on hospital costs.
Date: 12/2006
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Examines the impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) provisions on rural hospital payments. Present the effect of eight MMA provisions on Medicare inpatient and outpatient payments to traditional (non-CAH) hospitals. Summarizes the MMA changes to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) payment policies discussed in MedPAC's interim report. Examines the effects of higher payments on hospital costs.
Date: 12/2006
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Foreign Physicians: Data on Use of J-1 Visa Waivers Needed to Better Address Physician Shortages
Examines the number of J-1 visa waivers requested by states and federal agencies; waiver physicians' practice specialties, settings, and locations; and the extent to which waiver physicians are accounted for in the Department of Health and Human Services efforts to address physician shortages.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 11/2006
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Examines the number of J-1 visa waivers requested by states and federal agencies; waiver physicians' practice specialties, settings, and locations; and the extent to which waiver physicians are accounted for in the Department of Health and Human Services efforts to address physician shortages.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 11/2006
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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The Experience of Sole Community Rural Independent Pharmacies with Medicare Part D: Reports from the Field
Examines unintended impacts of the Medicare Part D program on independent pharmacies in rural areas. Discusses options to address the challenges faced by rural independent pharmacies that are the sole providers in their communities.
Author(s): Andrea Radford, Rebecca Slifkin, Roslyn Fraser, Michelle Mason, Keith Mueller
Date: 11/2006
Sponsoring organizations: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Examines unintended impacts of the Medicare Part D program on independent pharmacies in rural areas. Discusses options to address the challenges faced by rural independent pharmacies that are the sole providers in their communities.
Author(s): Andrea Radford, Rebecca Slifkin, Roslyn Fraser, Michelle Mason, Keith Mueller
Date: 11/2006
Sponsoring organizations: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Health Professional Shortage Areas: Problems Remain With Primary Care Shortage Area Designation System
Reviews the number and location of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and federal programs that use HPSA designations to allocate resources or provide benefits. Discusses available research on HPSA designation criteria and methodology. Addresses the impact of a 2002 provision that automatically designates Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and certain Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) as facility HPSAs.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2006
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Reviews the number and location of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and federal programs that use HPSA designations to allocate resources or provide benefits. Discusses available research on HPSA designation criteria and methodology. Addresses the impact of a 2002 provision that automatically designates Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and certain Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) as facility HPSAs.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2006
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Access, Health, and Wealth: The Impact of the National Health Service Corps in Rural America, 1970-2000
Examines 30 years of the National Health Service Corps' (NHSC) operation and its impact on rural America. Provides a detailed breakdown of healthcare professional providers who participated in the program, and includes information on mortality rates and self-reported health status for people living in rural Health Professional Shortage Area counties that were staffed with NHSC physicians. Also provides data on the economic impact for communities with NHSC personnel for selected states.
Author(s): George Fryer, Jessica McCann, Martey Dodoo, et al.
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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Examines 30 years of the National Health Service Corps' (NHSC) operation and its impact on rural America. Provides a detailed breakdown of healthcare professional providers who participated in the program, and includes information on mortality rates and self-reported health status for people living in rural Health Professional Shortage Area counties that were staffed with NHSC physicians. Also provides data on the economic impact for communities with NHSC personnel for selected states.
Author(s): George Fryer, Jessica McCann, Martey Dodoo, et al.
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: Robert Graham Center
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The Implementation of Pay-For-Performance in Rural Hospitals: Lessons from the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project
Reports the findings of a national study designed to identify institutional, organizational, and environmental factors that influence the experience of rural hospitals in the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project.
Author(s): Walter Gregg, Ira Moscovice, Denise Remus
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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Reports the findings of a national study designed to identify institutional, organizational, and environmental factors that influence the experience of rural hospitals in the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project.
Author(s): Walter Gregg, Ira Moscovice, Denise Remus
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services Meeting Minutes, Grand Forks, North Dakota, September 28-30, 2006
Minutes from a National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting addressing the following topics: substance abuse, Head Start, and Medicare Advantage.
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Minutes from a National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting addressing the following topics: substance abuse, Head Start, and Medicare Advantage.
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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A Primer on the Occupational Mix Adjustment to the Medicare Hospital Wage Index
Focuses on the occupational mix adjustment (OMA) to the labor-related share in the hospital inpatient prospective payment system. Explains what the OMA is, why it is needed, and how it has been calculated. Discusses reasons the effect of the OMA has been less than some rural advocates anticipated.
Author(s): Kristin Reiter, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Focuses on the occupational mix adjustment (OMA) to the labor-related share in the hospital inpatient prospective payment system. Explains what the OMA is, why it is needed, and how it has been calculated. Discusses reasons the effect of the OMA has been less than some rural advocates anticipated.
Author(s): Kristin Reiter, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
Date: 09/2006
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Attention from the Top: Roles of State Offices of Rural Health Policy in Preparing for Bioterrorism and Other Health System Emergencies
Presents results from a survey of directors of State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) on emergency preparedness in rural communities. Discusses emergency preparedness activities of SORHs and SORH directors' impression of preparedness in rural areas of their states.
Author(s): Curt D. Mueller
Date: 07/2006
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Presents results from a survey of directors of State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) on emergency preparedness in rural communities. Discusses emergency preparedness activities of SORHs and SORH directors' impression of preparedness in rural areas of their states.
Author(s): Curt D. Mueller
Date: 07/2006
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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