Current Projects

Funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, HRSA:

The Community and Financial Experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals

This project will investigate the community and financial experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals in comparison with other rural hospitals. Analysis of the financial experience will include comparison of the long-term profitability of MDHs to other rural hospitals, estimation of the potential profitability consequences of eliminating the payment classification, and estimation of the potential consequences of maintaining the payment classification but failing to update the base year from which costs are trended forward.

Expected completion date: October 2011. (Contact: George Pink, PhD gpink@email.unc.edu, 919/966-5541)

Patterns of Care in Small Rural Areas: Implications for New Models of Care Provision and Payment such as Bundled Payments and Accountable Care Organizations

This two year project analyzes patterns of care-seeking in rural communities to assess likely effects on rural health care systems of new reimbursement models.

Expected completion date: August 2012. (Contact: Mark Holmes, PhD gholmes@ad.unc.edu, 919/966-5541)

A Comprehensive Study of Swing Bed Use in Rural Hospitals

This two year project will comprehensively address questions about how swing beds are used by rural hospitals. In the second year of this study we will examine whether patients served in swing beds differ in meaningful ways from those in skilled nursing facilities.

Expected completion date: August 2012. (Contact: Victoria Freeman, PhD victoria_freeman@unc.edu, 919/966-5541)

Use of Rural Health Clinics by Medicare Beneficiaries

This project will look at Medicare beneficiaries’ utilization of available RHCs and develope a descriptive profile of Medicare beneficiaries who utilize RHCs, including both geographic and diagnostic elements and a comparison to Medicare beneficiaries who utilize FQHCs. .

Expected completion date: August 2012. (Contact: Andrea Radford, DrPH aradford@schsr.unc.edu, 919/966-5541)