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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Affiliation Partners Sought to Prepare Small Hospital for Value-Based Care
Details how Grinnell Regional Medical Center (GRMC) in Grinnell, Iowa, followed a robust due diligence process to identify affiliation partners and prepare for participation in risk-based reimbursement models. GRMC is a 49-bed private, nonprofit medical center that serves 6 rural counties in Iowa.
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Rural Health Research Recap: Opioid Use and Treatment Availability
Summarizes key findings from the Rural Health Research Centers' most recent research on opioid use and treatment. Focuses on research related to opioid use in rural communities, treatment for opioid use disorder, perceived need and use of treatment, and rural community response. Provides links to each of the referenced source documents.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Young Rural Healthcare Leaders Share Experiences and Insights
Interviews with four Critical Access Hospital leaders under the age of forty, who share their experiences helping their facilities and communities. They also offer advice to others interested in rural hospital leadership. Interviewees include Benjamin Anderson, CEO of Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas; Melissa Kelly, CEO and CFO of Pender Community Hospital in Pender, Nebraska; Stephanie Orr, CNO at Steele Memorial Medical Center in Salmon, Idaho; and Adam Willmann, CEO and President of Goodall-Witcher Hospital Authority in Clifton, Texas.
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Competence Revisited in a Rural Context
Results of a national survey of 171 undergraduate and graduate medical educators and practicing physicians, with the goal of developing a list of competency domains for working in rural communities and assessing their importance in education and practice.
Author(s): Randall L. Longenecker, Andrea Wendling, Joyce Hollander-Rodriguez, John Bowling, David Schmitz
Citation: Family Medicine, 50(1), 28-35
Date: 01/2018
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Taking Stock: Policy Opportunities for Advancing Rural Health
Examines the progress of health system transformation and discusses the challenges that remain for rural people, places, and providers. Organized around seven main topics: Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP, insurance coverage and affordability, quality, healthcare finance and system transformation, workforce, and population health. Provides background information on each topic and shares policy suggestions for addressing each topic's most pressing issues.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Charles Alfero, Andrew F. Coburn, et al.
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Reinventing Rural Health Care: A Case Study of Seven Upper Midwest States
Examines the state of rural healthcare in seven states - Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming - and uses the findings to determine the impact of existing federal policies, understand ongoing healthcare challenges, and identify opportunities for improvement in rural healthcare access and delivery. Addresses rightsizing healthcare services to fit community needs, creating rural funding mechanisms, building and supporting the primary care physician workforce, and expanding telemedicine services. Analysis is based on interviews with over 90 national thought leaders and key stakeholders.
Additional links: Infographic, Summary – Rural Health Care: Lessons Learned
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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An Interim Evaluation Report of the Innovative Projects Portfolio of the Medicare Flex Grant Program
Provides background on the Flex Program and the Integration of Innovative Health Care Models (Innovative Projects) program area. Evaluates the impact of the Innovative Projects program area across seven participating states, focusing on activities involving the transition to value-based care, telehealth, care coordination, quality improvement, and system delivery in rural communities. Final implementation results are described in Implementation and Early Results of the Flex Program's Innovative Models Program Area: Final Evaluation Report.
Author(s): Sara Kahn-Troster, John Gale, Anush Hansen, Andrew Coburn
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Review of the 340B Drug Pricing Program
Provides extensive background information about the 340B Program, explains the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) oversight functions, and details requirements for the various covered entities, including rural hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Also makes recommendations for clarifying the 340B Program's scope and ensuring program integrity is maintained.
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: House Committee on Energy and Commerce
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HEROs in Rural Health: Q&A with Art Kaufman
An interview with Arthur Kaufman, MD, vice chancellor for community health at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Center. Discusses his work creating UNM's Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) program, based on the agricultural extension model. Also covers his role in promoting the use of community health workers and work with UNM's World Health Organization Collaborating Center.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Range Matters: Rural Averages Can Conceal Important Information
Findings brief showing how research focusing on averages without considering data range can conceal important information about average rural hospital profitability, distance between hospitals, and HIV prevalence by county.
Author(s): Meagan Clawar, Kristie Thompson, George H. Pink
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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