Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
Assessing Intake of Food and Dietary Supplements in Older Adults: Proceedings of a Workshop Series
Summarizes workshop proceedings on assessing food intake and dietary supplements in adults aged 75 years or older. Discusses screening, nutrition practices, challenges, and policies related to elderly adults. Includes considerations of nutritional issues specific to aging in rural areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Food and Nutrition Board
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Summarizes workshop proceedings on assessing food intake and dietary supplements in adults aged 75 years or older. Discusses screening, nutrition practices, challenges, and policies related to elderly adults. Includes considerations of nutritional issues specific to aging in rural areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Food and Nutrition Board
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant Program Phase 6 Program Report
Provides an overview of the Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant Program for rural Georgia hospitals. Describes projects funded in fiscal year 2021 as part of Phase Six of the program and how funds were used to meet program goals.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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Provides an overview of the Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant Program for rural Georgia hospitals. Describes projects funded in fiscal year 2021 as part of Phase Six of the program and how funds were used to meet program goals.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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Private Health Insurance: State and Federal Oversight of Provider Networks Varies
Describes oversight responsibilities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, the Department of Labor, and state governments for ensuring adequate private health insurance plans and provider networks. Examines processes for determining adequacy through surveys and interviews with stakeholders from state agencies and medical association groups as well as a review of relevant laws and regulations. Outlines factors for inadequacy including health workforce shortages and distance from in-network services in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Describes oversight responsibilities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, the Department of Labor, and state governments for ensuring adequate private health insurance plans and provider networks. Examines processes for determining adequacy through surveys and interviews with stakeholders from state agencies and medical association groups as well as a review of relevant laws and regulations. Outlines factors for inadequacy including health workforce shortages and distance from in-network services in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Exploring Remaining Needs and Opportunities for Improvement in Rural Communities: A Focus on Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Services
Provides an overview of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Presents findings from interviews with rural human services providers across 8 sites with MIECHV-funded programs. Describes the experiences of rural practitioners as they deliver home visiting services in their communities. Offers lessons learned and practitioner recommendations to help inform policy and service delivery moving forward.
Author(s): Emily Brimsek, James Murdoch, Neel Chakraborti
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families
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Provides an overview of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Presents findings from interviews with rural human services providers across 8 sites with MIECHV-funded programs. Describes the experiences of rural practitioners as they deliver home visiting services in their communities. Offers lessons learned and practitioner recommendations to help inform policy and service delivery moving forward.
Author(s): Emily Brimsek, James Murdoch, Neel Chakraborti
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families
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Virginia Community Services Boards Behavioral Health Services: 2022
Report on activities of Virginia's Community Services Boards (CSBs), the state's primary mechanism for providing publicly funded behavioral health services in local communities. Includes a section on CSBs' role in providing services to rural areas. Features statistics on numbers of substance use disorder and mental health consumers, with breakdowns by urban and rural CSBs.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
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Report on activities of Virginia's Community Services Boards (CSBs), the state's primary mechanism for providing publicly funded behavioral health services in local communities. Includes a section on CSBs' role in providing services to rural areas. Features statistics on numbers of substance use disorder and mental health consumers, with breakdowns by urban and rural CSBs.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission
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Evaluation of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration: Interim Report Two (Covering 2016-2018)
Provides an overview of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD). Describes the characteristics of RCHD participants as of fiscal year 2018, the Medicare payments received under the program, and the impact of the RCHD on hospital financial measures. Examines whether hospitals that continued to participate in the RCHD under the 21st Century Cures Act (CCA) extension experienced additional changes to their financial condition, as well as the impact of the program on hospitals that joined the demonstration for the first time under the CCA extension.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Provides an overview of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD). Describes the characteristics of RCHD participants as of fiscal year 2018, the Medicare payments received under the program, and the impact of the RCHD on hospital financial measures. Examines whether hospitals that continued to participate in the RCHD under the 21st Century Cures Act (CCA) extension experienced additional changes to their financial condition, as well as the impact of the program on hospitals that joined the demonstration for the first time under the CCA extension.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Addressing Food Access In Arkansas: A Report & Recommendations From The 2022 Arkansas Governor's Food Desert Working Group
Reports on actionable steps at the community and policy level to eliminate food deserts in Arkansas. Provides county-level data on food insecurity and benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), as well as working models to alleviate food insecurity in both urban and rural areas.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Winthrop Rockefeller Institute
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Reports on actionable steps at the community and policy level to eliminate food deserts in Arkansas. Provides county-level data on food insecurity and benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), as well as working models to alleviate food insecurity in both urban and rural areas.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Winthrop Rockefeller Institute
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Public Law 117–328: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 (December 29, 2022). Section 4113 extends certain COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, including the ability of Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as distant site providers, through December 31, 2024. Section 4137 authorizes the extension of a 1% add-on payment for home health services provided in high-utilization rural counties through 2023.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Congress
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Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 (December 29, 2022). Section 4113 extends certain COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, including the ability of Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as distant site providers, through December 31, 2024. Section 4137 authorizes the extension of a 1% add-on payment for home health services provided in high-utilization rural counties through 2023.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Congress
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Improving Rural Health Through Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communication
Presents the results of a comprehensive literature review to identify, summarize, and evaluate available research on the contributions of rural provider-to-provider telehealth communication and collaboration in addressing health disparities, and improving the health of rural populations. Topics cover the specific applications, effectiveness, implementation, sustainability, and barriers and facilitators of provider-to-provider telehealth in rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Full Report, Telehealth's Potential To Benefit Rural Healthcare Delivery: Infographic 1, Telehealth's Potential To Benefit Rural Healthcare Delivery: Infographic 2
Author(s): Annette Totten, Dana M. Womack, Marian S. McDonagh, et al.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Presents the results of a comprehensive literature review to identify, summarize, and evaluate available research on the contributions of rural provider-to-provider telehealth communication and collaboration in addressing health disparities, and improving the health of rural populations. Topics cover the specific applications, effectiveness, implementation, sustainability, and barriers and facilitators of provider-to-provider telehealth in rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Full Report, Telehealth's Potential To Benefit Rural Healthcare Delivery: Infographic 1, Telehealth's Potential To Benefit Rural Healthcare Delivery: Infographic 2
Author(s): Annette Totten, Dana M. Womack, Marian S. McDonagh, et al.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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December 2022 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and supporting Medicare safety-net hospitals, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and supporting Medicare safety-net hospitals, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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