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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models

Evaluation of the Primary Care First Model: Second Annual Report
Provides an overview of the Primary Care First (PCF) model, which aims to enhance primary care and move primary care practitioners toward value-based payment. Describes the PCF model implementation experiences for Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 practices. Explores the preliminary impact of the PCF Model on acute hospitalizations and Medicare Part A and B expenditures relative to a comparison group. Estimates the impacts of the model on a set of seven leading indicators to provide an early assessment of whether care delivery changes are resulting in meaningful early outcome changes. Highlights implications from this report for the Primary Care First model and future models.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
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Mobile Units and Your RHC - Is It a Good Fit?
Recording of a February 21, 2024, webinar reviewing regulations and guidance regarding Rural Health Clinic (RHC) mobile units. Explores operational considerations regarding whether a mobile unit is a good fit for an RHC. Profiles the experiences of Baptist Health opening a mobile RHC unit in rural Kentucky. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
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CommHIT Shoots for the Moon
Features a Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network grantee, CommHIT, that is assisting Florida partners with workforce development initiatives. Describes its workforce development efforts focused on community health workers (CHWs) and community paramedics, as well as cybersecurity and other technology-related trainings.
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Assessing the Acceptability and Feasibility of Remote Spirometric Monitoring for Rural Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease: A Multimethod Approach
Examines the acceptability and feasibility of utilizing telemonitoring for rural lung disease patients who have limited access to hospital-based tests. Analyzes home-based spirometry use of 20 rural patients and provides patient feedback on satisfaction of using telehealth to complete remote monitoring of lung disease.
Author(s): Ryan D. Boente, Sydney Schacht, Rebecca Borton, et al.
Citation: Respiratory Research, 25, 92
Date: 02/2024
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Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model: Evaluation Report 2
Presents findings from the first year of the implementation of the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model, which aims to improve health outcomes for Medicaid-enrolled children with complex physical and behavioral health needs. Provides an overview of the InCK Model and profiles each InCK award recipient's model, community context, approach to assessing beneficiary needs, and alternative payment model design. Identifies models serving rural areas and service gaps in these areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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How to Launch a Pulmonary Rehab Program
Highlights the benefits to hospitals and their community of operating rural pulmonary rehab programs, and shares practical advice and tips on how Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals can successfully build and sustain their own pulmonary rehab programs. Features Sparta Community Hospital in Illinois and Hood Memorial Hospital in Louisiana, which opened pulmonary rehab programs in 2023. Transcript available below description.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Understanding COPD and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Provides an overview of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms and causes, and explains how rural-based pulmonary rehabilitation services help to restore independence and quality of life in COPD patients. Highlights the prevalence of COPD in rural communities and the steps that Critical Access Hospitals and other small rural hospitals can take to improve access to much-needed pulmonary rehabilitation services. Includes transcript.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit
Toolkit to support state policymakers in expanding the use of telehealth to deliver Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) services. Provides information on telehealth flexibilities under Medicaid and CHIP; billing best practices; strategies for telehealth in value-based care; best practices from states during the COVID-19 public health emergency; strategies to promote the delivery of accessible and culturally competent care via telehealth; evaluation strategies to understand how telehealth affects quality, outcomes, and cost, and more. Offers state policy and operational considerations; information about common telehealth modalities; frequently asked questions for states to consider as they explore whether to expand the use of telehealth; Medicaid managed care and fee-for-service state checklists; and other planning tools. Includes information about using telehealth to deliver services to medically underserved and rural communities, older adults, and other specific populations.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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An 'Unseen' Struggle: Addressing Hoarding Disorder in Rural Communities
Discusses the challenges of identifying and addressing hoarding disorder in rural areas, as well as the impact it can have on the ability to age in place. Highlights resources and strategies that can be effective in rural areas to help address this issue.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Bridging The Home-Based Primary Care Gap In Rural Areas
Discusses challenges with offering home-based primary care (HBPC) in rural communities for older adults and people with disabilities, notably workforce shortages, insufficient infrastructure, and funding. Offers HBPC redesign suggestions with these challenges in mind, discussing community health workers, technology and telehealth, leveraging community resources and partnerships, training, scope of practice laws, payment models, and infrastructure investments.
Author(s): Ginny Rogers, Montgomery Smith, Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, Robert S. Saunders
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 02/2024
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