About this project Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Project funded: September 2003 Project completed: August 2006 One of the objectives of the Flex program is to provide a greater degree of financial stability for CAHs through the use of cost-based reimbursement. Making use of the financial indicators developed by project staff, the focus of… Read more »
State Facts about Medicaid: Rural Specific Data
About this project Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Medicaid is an important source of health insurance coverage for both rural residents and rural providers. Rural residents are more likely to live in poverty than urban residents, and are less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage. As a result, rural residents are more likely… Read more »
Rural Hospital Participation in the 340B Drug Discount Program
About this project Lead researchers: Claudia Schur, PhD and Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Project completed: August, 2007 The 340B drug pricing program enables certain types of safety net organizations to obtain deeply discounted medications, at prices below the “best price” typically offered to Medicaid agencies. In the past, few rural hospitals qualified for the 340B… Read more »
Challenges for Rural Emergency Medical Services: Medical Oversight
About this project Contact: Victoria Freeman, DrPH, RN Project funded: September 2005 Project completed: August 2007 This two-year study will examine the status of medical direction for rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems, the nature of the challenges and impediments to obtaining adequate medical direction in rural areas and issues surrounding the recruitment and retention… Read more »
Occupational Mix Differences Across PPS Hospitals: Analysis of Hospital Occupation Mix Survey Data and Implications for Rural Hospital Payments
About this project Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Project funded: September 2004 Project completed: February 2007 This study addresses the occupation-mix adjustment that has recently been added to the computation of the area wage index used to adjust Medicare prospective rates for all institutional healthcare providers. Project staff will review the policy objectives as… Read more »
Describing Geographic Access to Physicians in Rural America Using Statistical Applications in GIS
About this project Contact: Thomas C. Ricketts, PhD Project funded: September 2004 Project completed: May 2007 This study is testing the use of geographically weighted regression (GWR) to assess the influence of distance and travel time on the distribution of physicians in rural America. The Medicare Modernization Act contains financial provisions aimed at changing the… Read more »
Rural Hospital Flexibility Performance Monitoring Project- Grant Years 2003-2008
About this project Lead researcher: Ira Moscovice, PhD Project funded: September 2003 Project completed: August 2008 Under contract with the federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the Rural Health Research Centers at the Universities of Minnesota, North Carolina, and Southern Maine (the Flex Monitoring Team) are cooperatively conducting a performance monitoring project for the Medicare… Read more »
Quality and Financial Status of Critical Access Hospitals: A Preliminary Analysis
About this project Contact: Ira Moscovice, PhD Project start date: September 2006 Project completed: October 2008 The Flex Monitoring Team has worked to develop financial and quality performance measurement systems for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). The University of North Carolina (UNC) has taken the lead on the development of financial indicators for CAHs and analysis… Read more »
What Does the Allied Health Clinical Doctorate Mean for Rural Areas?
About this project Lead researcher: Jennifer King Project funded: September 2007 Project completed: August 2008 Allied health occupations play a major role in healthcare delivery and comprise a significant proportion of the health care workforce in the United States. Researchers have found empirical evidence of allied health shortages in many states, including reports of rising… Read more »
Developing a Financial Performance Measurement System for Critical Access Hospitals
About this project George H. Pink, PhD, lead investigator Project funded: September 2003 Project completed: August 2008 This multi-year project uses research and expert opinion to select dimensions and indicators of financial performance, develop appropriate methods of peer comparison, and identify characteristics of high performing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). In year three of this project… Read more »
Critical Access Hospital Conversion Tracking
Understanding critical access hospital (CAH) conversion tracking Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Project funded: September 2003 Project completed: August 2008 This multi-year project will continue the tracking of Critical Access Hospital (CAH) conversions. A CAH management information dataset, housed at the University of North Carolina, will be updated with information on conversions supplied by… Read more »
Assessing the Impact of Transfer of Pharmacy Services for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries to Medicare Part D
Assessing the impact of transfer of pharmacy services for dual eligible Medicare Part D beneficiaries Project funded: September 2006 Project completed: October 2008 With the implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D) in January 2006, full-benefit dual eligible beneficiaries no longer have their prescription medications paid for by Medicaid but are instead… Read more »
Volunteerism in Rural EMS
Understanding volunteerism in rural EMS Project funded: September 2007 Project completed: August 2010 Emergency medical services (EMS) providers are continually challenged to maintain an adequate workforce. A survey of state EMS directors in 2004 suggests that volunteerism is declining in rural areas. Communities may respond to declining volunteerism in a variety of ways including conversion… Read more »
Rural-urban Comparison of Hospital Financial Performance by Medicare Payment Classification
Contact: George H. Pink, PhD, 919.843.2728, gpink@email.unc.edu Project funded: September 2008 Project completed: August 2010 Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare The standard mechanism for Medicare payment for hospital services is the Prospective Payment System, but four specific hospital classifications, each with different payment enhancements and qualification criteria, are available to hospitals that serve rural communities [sole community… Read more »
Rural Medicaid and CHIP Mini-Studies
Learn more about Medicaid and CHIP in our mini-studies Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD Project funded: September 2009 Project completed: December 2010 Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are important sources of health insurance coverage, especially in rural communities. In 2007, we created a website with state-level Medicaid enrollment data in rural… Read more »