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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

A 'Scrappy' Push for Health: 'Our Best Asset Is Our People'
Provides an overview of health challenges in Allen County, Kansas, and actions that communities in the area have taken to address them, including fundraising for a local hospital, building bike and walking trails, establishing job training programs, advocating for improved access to healthy food, and more. Allen County is a recipient of the 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Prize.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Innovations in Rural Health System Development: Federally Qualified Health Center Initiatives
Reports on Maine's Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Discusses strategies for workforce recruitment and retention, serving high-need patient populations, addressing critical community needs, and providing services that address the social determinants of health. Provides various examples of programs from across the state.
Author(s): Sara Kahn-Troster, Amanda Burgess, Andrew Coburn
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Catherine Cutler Institute, Maine Health Access Foundation
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What is the Quality Payment Program?
Provides an overview of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and its two associated payment tracks: the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs). Describes how the QPP may affect rural practices and includes links to additional resources.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Medicare Performance-Based Payment Adjustment Programs
Describes three Medicare Performance-Based Payment Adjustment programs for hospitals: the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP), the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBPP). Explains how these programs may affect rural hospitals.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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A Toolkit for Legislative Reform: Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Mental Illness in Rural States
Toolkit details methods to improve access to mental health treatment in rural communities through the criminal justice system. Presents options for state policy reform, using South Dakota's mental illness intervention law as a case study.
Author(s): Barbara A. Pierce
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Crime and Justice Institute
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Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure: Information on Identified Needs, Planning for Future Conditions, and Coordination of Project Funding
Reviews federal programs that provide funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects and describes how infrastructure needs are identified. Also details how federal agencies support states' efforts and the extent to which federal agencies coordinate funding initiatives. Analysis is based on a review of infrastructure projects in 6 states: Alaska, California, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, and Tennessee.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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In Focus: Expanding Access to Addiction Treatment Through Primary Care
Discusses the lack of access to treatment for drug addiction and presents models for implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for addiction, including one in a rural community health center. Looks at barriers to expanding MAT in primary care, as well as methods for overcoming those barriers.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein
Citation: Transforming Care: Reporting on Health System Improvement
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Tackling the Opioid Crisis in a Rural Community
Discusses a partnership between a rural hospital physician and the director of a community counseling center to establish a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction in rural Maine. Presents the program's support structure, as well as the advantages of having an integrated treatment approach.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Promoting a Nutritious Diet Inside and Outside the Hospital
Highlights a rural Vermont hospital's efforts to promote healthier eating habits both inside and outside the hospital by locally sourcing food, encouraging participation in their "Ton of Tomatoes" project, and processing produce to help food-insecure community members. Discusses efforts of other hospitals promoting healthy diets, including removing unhealthy cafeteria meal options and promoting community gardens.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Regional Variation in Medicare Part A, Part B, and Part D Spending and Service Use
Compares Medicare spending and service use based on geographic location, including across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Seeks to identify factors that influence regional variation and determine if higher service use and/or spending results in higher quality care and outcomes. Utilizes updated data to build on findings that were published in the January 2011 Report to the Congress: Regional Variation in Medicare Service Use. Data is adjusted to account for differences in payment rates to certain providers, such as Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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