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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Specialty care

Beneficiary and Clinician Perspectives on Medicare and Other Issues: Findings from 2023 Focus Groups in Select States
Summarizes findings from 24 focus groups of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible) beneficiaries, and clinicians conducted between May and July 2023, including three virtual focus groups of rural Medicare beneficiaries. Highlights themes that emerged across the focus groups covering Medicare coverage options, access to care, telehealth, organization of care, and prescription drugs.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review Measures Under Consideration: 2023 Recommendations Report
Reviews the 42 pre-rulemaking quality measures the Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) considered during the 2023-2024 Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) cycle. Discusses measures for clinician, hospital, and post-acute care/long-term care programs. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Unrelenting Pressure Pushes Rural Safety Net Crisis Into Uncharted Territory
Examines financial and operational metrics for rural hospitals. Discusses the growth of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment in rural communities between 2019 and 2023, the impact of MA on rural hospital reimbursement, how the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can provide a path forward for some rural facilities, and the discontinuation of obstetrics and chemotherapy services at rural hospitals since 2011. Includes the percentage of rural hospitals in each state vulnerable to closure and nine factors significantly associated with rural hospital vulnerability.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Chartis Center for Rural Health Research & Resources for the 2024 National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute Conference
Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Unrelenting Pressure Pushes Rural Safety Net Crisis into Uncharted Territory, Rural America's OB Deserts Widen in Fallout From Pandemic, and presentation slides on this report from the 2024 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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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
Type: Video/Multimedia
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
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Alzheimer Disease or Other Dementias in Adult Day Services Centers, 2020
Examines the prevalence of Alzheimer disease and other dementias among adult day services center (ADSC) participants using data from the ADSC component of the 2020 National Post-acute and Long-term Care Study (NPALS). Compares the prevalence of these conditions in ADSCs that provide specialized care for dementia with other ADSCs by census region, metropolitan statistical area status, chain affiliation, and ownership type.
Author(s): Priyanka Singh, Jessica P. Lendon, Manisha Sengupta
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model: Second Annual Evaluation Report
Evaluation of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model, incorporating analyses of home dialysis use, transplantation, acute care hospitalizations, outpatient ED visits, and hospital readmissions. Features results from interviews and surveys involving model participants and beneficiaries, and examines impacts of the ETC Model during calendar years 2021 and 2022. Includes facility-level statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Author(s): Brighita Negrusa, Jennifer Wiens, Darin Ullman, et al.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, The Lewin Group
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Tennessee Uninsured Adult Healthcare Safety Net: 2023 Annual Report
Reports on Tennessee's uninsured population, state safety net funding, and services provided in 2023. Describes and lists safety net service locations, including community and faith-based clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and more. Provides county-by-county data on primary, oral, and specialty care population-to-provider ratios, and includes county-level maps identifying Health Resource Shortage Areas. Highlights issues affecting rural Tennessee throughout, including adequacy of healthcare and access to services.
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
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Development of a Hybrid Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum for First Year Medical Students in a Rural Medical Education Program: A Pilot Study
Discusses the process of implementing a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum in a rural medical education program. Covers the development, implementation, and evaluation stages of the curriculum.
Author(s): Joshua I. Johnson, Heather Beasley, Derek Southwick, et al.
Citation: BMC Medical Education, 24, 16
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
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