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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Healthcare Quality – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Healthcare Quality.

Impact of Rural and Urban Hospital Closures on Inpatient Mortality
Examines the impact of California's hospital closures from 1995-2011 on adjusted inpatient mortality for sepsis, stroke, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute myocardial infarction. Features statistics including the number of closures by year, patient demographics with breakdowns by urban or rural location, and differential impacts of rural and urban closures with breakdowns by condition.
Author(s): Kritee Gujral, Anirban Basu
Citation: NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 26182
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Bureau of Economic Research
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Addressing Low Case-Volume in Healthcare Performance Measurement of Rural Providers: Recommendations from the MAP Rural Health Technical Expert Panel
Final report recommending how to measure healthcare performance in low case-volume situations, such as rural providers. Reviews existing and proposed low-volume healthcare quality measures, how measures are calculated, data use, and data analysis techniques. Focuses on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality programs reporting requirements.
Date: 03/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum MAP Rural Health Advisory Workgroup
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Perspectives of Physicians in Small Rural Practices on the Medicare Quality Payment Program
Provides feedback from small, rural practices on the implementation of Medicare's Quality Payment Program (QPP), which includes the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Identifies challenges rural physicians face and offers recommendations to help more small practices participate in the program.
Author(s): Peter Mendel, Christine Buttorff, Peggy G. Chen, et al.
Date: 2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Care Redesign Survey: Lessons Learned from and for Rural Health
Explores similarities and disparities between healthcare in rural and urban or suburban areas, and discusses barriers to delivering excellent care in rural areas. Based on survey responses from 730 members of the NEJM Catalyst Insights Council.
Author(s): Amy Compton-Phillips, Namita Seth Mohta
Citation: NEJM Catalyst
Date: 10/2018
Type: Document
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MAP 2018: Recommendations for a Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures for Hospitals and Selected Ambulatory Care Settings and Measuring and Improving Access to Care
Describes selection criteria and processes used to create a draft core set of measures, lists the measures, and describes measurement gap areas identified by the Measures Applications Partnership (MAP) Rural Health Workgroup, a public-private partnership of healthcare stakeholders. Second in a series of 3 reports documenting the Workgroup's continuing efforts.
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum MAP Rural Health Advisory Workgroup
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Identifying a Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures for Hospital and Ambulatory Settings
Describes selection criteria and processes used to create a draft core set of measures, lists the measures, and describes measurement gap areas identified by the Measures Applications Partnership Rural Health Workgroup, a public-private partnership of healthcare stakeholders. First in a series of 3 reports documenting the Workgroup's continuing efforts.
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum MAP Rural Health Advisory Workgroup
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Quality Improvement and Care Coordination: Implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
A guide to help primary care providers, practices, and healthcare systems manage patients who are on long-term opioid therapy. Provides an evidence-based prescribing guideline, quality improvement measures, and practice-level care coordination strategies. Appendix F provides examples of comprehensive management approaches, including discussion of telehealth approaches that could be used in rural communities.
Date: 2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Core Elements at Small and Critical Access Hospitals
Presents strategies for implementing antibiotic stewardship programs in critical access hospitals (CAHs). Includes examples of improved antibiotic-use strategies and guidelines for the prescribing physician, nurses, and pharmacists.
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
Provides technical assistance to Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural healthcare organizations to improve healthcare and quality of care using data, measurement, and improvement activities. Offers information and resources on quality improvement and the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP).
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Telligen
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RQITA Monthly
A monthly electronic newsletter providing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) information and support for quality reporting and improvement. Includes news items and information about the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP).
Type: Journal/Newsletter
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center, Telligen
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Last Updated: 4/11/2024