Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models
2024 National CAH Quality Inventory & Assessment National Report
Presents a high-level summary of key data points from the September-November 2024 National Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Quality Inventory and Assessment. Includes data on CAH system affiliation; median average daily census and emergency department volume; median swing bed admissions and swing bed length of stay; hospital inpatient, behavioral health and specialty care, and outpatient and other service lines; and CAH quality payment model participation.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Presents a high-level summary of key data points from the September-November 2024 National Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Quality Inventory and Assessment. Includes data on CAH system affiliation; median average daily census and emergency department volume; median swing bed admissions and swing bed length of stay; hospital inpatient, behavioral health and specialty care, and outpatient and other service lines; and CAH quality payment model participation.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Medicare Shared Savings Program: Rule Changes and Implications for Rural Health Care Organizations
Summarizes changes to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP) that take effect in January 2023 for current participants, and in January 2024 for organizations applying for a January 1, 2024 start. Discusses the potential impact of these changes on rural health and participation considerations.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Summarizes changes to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP) that take effect in January 2023 for current participants, and in January 2024 for organizations applying for a January 1, 2024 start. Discusses the potential impact of these changes on rural health and participation considerations.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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The Role of Telehealth in Sepsis Care in Rural Emergency Departments: A Qualitative Study of Emergency Department Sepsis Telehealth User Perspectives
Explores rural emergency department staff use of and perspectives on provider-to-provider telehealth (tele-ED) use for rural patients with sepsis, using data from interviews with 27 hub physicians, rural ED providers, and nurses in the Upper Midwest. Discusses topics related to rural barriers and facilitators of tele-ED use, impacts on quality of care, staff and facility-level factors, and more.
Author(s): Nicholas M. Mohr, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, Brian M. Fuller, et al.
Citation: PLOS One, 20(4), e0321299
Date: 04/2025
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Explores rural emergency department staff use of and perspectives on provider-to-provider telehealth (tele-ED) use for rural patients with sepsis, using data from interviews with 27 hub physicians, rural ED providers, and nurses in the Upper Midwest. Discusses topics related to rural barriers and facilitators of tele-ED use, impacts on quality of care, staff and facility-level factors, and more.
Author(s): Nicholas M. Mohr, Kimberly A.S. Merchant, Brian M. Fuller, et al.
Citation: PLOS One, 20(4), e0321299
Date: 04/2025
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Evolving Remote Monitoring: An Evidence-Based Approach to Coverage and Payment
Reports on trends in utilization of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and discusses policy and payment approaches for effectively and efficiently utilizing RPM, particularly via Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data and discussion of rural barriers to RPM access.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Peterson Center on Healthcare
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Reports on trends in utilization of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and discusses policy and payment approaches for effectively and efficiently utilizing RPM, particularly via Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data and discussion of rural barriers to RPM access.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Peterson Center on Healthcare
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Profile in Innovation: Rural Hospital Participation in Missouri HealthNet's Transformation of Rural Community Health (ToRCH) Program
Provides an overview of ToRCH, a Missouri Medicaid program designed to improve health outcomes and overall well-being in rural Missouri communities by addressing both medical and health-related social needs through a comprehensive, integrated care model. Discusses how hospitals, primary care teams, and community-based organizations implemented the model and funding strategy for the program.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Provides an overview of ToRCH, a Missouri Medicaid program designed to improve health outcomes and overall well-being in rural Missouri communities by addressing both medical and health-related social needs through a comprehensive, integrated care model. Discusses how hospitals, primary care teams, and community-based organizations implemented the model and funding strategy for the program.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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CMS Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model: Sixth Annual Evaluation Report
Sixth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Examines the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 5. Also explores the impact of the model on accountable care relationships, strengthening primary care, and care for patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data on the percentage of BPCI Advanced episodes with and without ACO attribution by patient characteristics, including rural residents.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance, Transformation Spotlight
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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Sixth annual report of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model, which tests whether linking payments for a clinical episode of care can reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care. Examines the impact of BPCI Advanced on episode payments, utilization, and quality of care, as well as estimates of Medicare program savings in Model Year 5. Also explores the impact of the model on accountable care relationships, strengthening primary care, and care for patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. Includes data on the percentage of BPCI Advanced episodes with and without ACO attribution by patient characteristics, including rural residents.
Additional links: Appendices, Executive Summary, Findings at a Glance, Transformation Spotlight
Author(s): The Lewin Group, Abt Associates, GDIT, Telligen
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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Advancing Value-Based Payment Policies Relevant to Rural Areas – Continued Challenges and New Opportunities
Discusses lessons from the recent public health emergency, rising health care costs, improved quality measurement, and innovative technologies on the transition from volume-based payment to value-based payment. Outlines potential policy opportunities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center model design and CMS program inclusion to expand rural-appropriate opportunities to participate in the transition to value-based care. Builds on the 2020 publication How to Design Value‐based Care Models for Rural Participant Success: A Summit Findings Report.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Discusses lessons from the recent public health emergency, rising health care costs, improved quality measurement, and innovative technologies on the transition from volume-based payment to value-based payment. Outlines potential policy opportunities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center model design and CMS program inclusion to expand rural-appropriate opportunities to participate in the transition to value-based care. Builds on the 2020 publication How to Design Value‐based Care Models for Rural Participant Success: A Summit Findings Report.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Colorado's Health IT Roadmap
Report details Colorado's health information technology initiatives. Highlights initiative description, purpose, and outcomes, among other aspects. Features a timeline of the initiatives' implementation. Discusses how each initiative affects rural areas when applicable. Discusses the ongoing progress made towards the 2021 Roadmap goals.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Office of eHealth Innovation
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Report details Colorado's health information technology initiatives. Highlights initiative description, purpose, and outcomes, among other aspects. Features a timeline of the initiatives' implementation. Discusses how each initiative affects rural areas when applicable. Discusses the ongoing progress made towards the 2021 Roadmap goals.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Colorado Office of eHealth Innovation
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Missouri Rural Health Clinic Provider Manual
Provider manual identifying the conditions of participation providing services in Missouri state-funded healthcare programs, including MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid program. Addresses enrollment, eligibility, claim filing, and billing requirements for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in Missouri. Includes information on covered telehealth services.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Department of Social Services
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Provider manual identifying the conditions of participation providing services in Missouri state-funded healthcare programs, including MO HealthNet, Missouri's Medicaid program. Addresses enrollment, eligibility, claim filing, and billing requirements for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) in Missouri. Includes information on covered telehealth services.
Date: 04/2025
Sponsoring organization: Missouri Department of Social Services
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From Cost to Community Impact: Telehealth's Social ROI in Rural Communities
Webinar recording discussing telehealth's impact on rural communities via the concept of social return on investment (SROI), which measures social, environmental, and economic value created by investments and other actions. Defines SROI as a concept and describes methods for SROI assessment. Transcript available below the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Author(s): Yael Harris, Jason C. Goldwater
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center
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Webinar recording discussing telehealth's impact on rural communities via the concept of social return on investment (SROI), which measures social, environmental, and economic value created by investments and other actions. Defines SROI as a concept and describes methods for SROI assessment. Transcript available below the video description.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Author(s): Yael Harris, Jason C. Goldwater
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center
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