Hospital mergers and acquisitions are changing the face of health care in both rural and urban communities across the country. Declining reimbursement levels, increased capital needs, a weak economy and easier access to credit have all contributed to a level of mergers not seen in more than a decade. The NC Rural Health Research Program’s Findings Brief: Rural… Read more »
How Does Medicaid Expansion Affect Insurance Coverage of Rural Populations?
The NC Rural Health Research Program’s Findings Brief: How Does Medicaid Expansion Affect Insurance Coverage of Rural Populations? examines how states’ decisions on Medicaid expansion are impacting rural areas in the U.S., we used population estimates, current status of state expansion, and state-level insurance estimates to answer two primary questions: 1) How is Medicaid expansion… Read more »
Toolkit for Person-Centeredness in Assisted Living Now Available
The Toolkit for Person-Centeredness in Assisted Living was developed through a close partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the national Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL), along with assisted living providers, residents, family members, and organizational representatives. Available for free download, the Toolkit includes questionnaires to be completed by assisted living… Read more »
Safety Net Clinics Serving the Elderly in Rural Areas: Rural Health Clinic Patients Compared to Federally Qualified Health Center Patients
The NC Rural Health Research Program’s Findings Brief, Safety Net Clinics Serving the Elderly in Rural Areas: Rural Health Clinic Patients Compared to Federally Qualified Health Center Patients, uses data extracted from 2009 Medicare outpatient provider claims to look at the location of clinics, the number of beneficiaries served, and the number of and cost per… Read more »
Program on Aging, Disability, and Long-term Care work highlighted in themed journal issue about nursing home culture change
A February 2014 supplemental issue of The Gerontologist entitled Transforming Nursing Home Culture: Evidence for Practice and Policy features several articles by Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, Philip Sloane, MD, MPH, David Reed, PhD, Lauren Cohen, MA and colleagues. The issue addresses the culture change movement in nursing homes, and provides evidence for future practice and policies… Read more »
Discharge to Swing Bed or Skilled Nursing Facility: Who Goes Where?
The NC Rural Health Research Program’s Findings Brief, Discharge to Swing Bed or Skilled Nursing Facility: Who Goes Where, examines health conditions of patients discharged from rural Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to swing beds and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Patients discharged to facility-based, post-acute care from CAHs are sent… Read more »
Program on Health Workforce Nursing Data System Briefs for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI)
A new set of three briefs, developed by a team of researchers funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI), provides information and guidance to help states build and maintain nursing workforce data systems that will help answer questions about the current and future supply, distribution, diversity, and demand for… Read more »
Study to evaluate Mouth Care Without a Battle finds that as little as 8 weeks of mouth care can significantly improve oral hygiene outcomes
Program on Aging, Disability, and Long-term Care team members Philip Sloane, Sheryl Zimmerman, Lauren Cohen, and David Reed have published the results of a pilot study to evaluate the Mouth Care Without a Battle training program. Findings indicate that as few as 8 weeks of mouth care can significantly improve oral hygiene outcomes in older… Read more »
Morrissey et al. MHPSA report 2007
Morrissey JP, Thomas KC, Ellis AR, Konrad TR. Development of a New Methodology for Mental Health Professional Shortage Designation. Unpublished report prepared under contract HHSH-230200532038C with the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 2007.
Rural and Urban Differences in Inpatient Related Costs and Use among Medicare Beneficiaries
This recent Findings Brief from the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program finds that Medicare beneficiaries who are admitted to rural hospitals tend to have lower outpatient costs than Medicare beneficiaries admitted to urban hospitals. These differences are due to multiple factors, some of which were adjusted in the comparisons included in the Brief. The… Read more »
Change in Profitability and Financial Distress of Critical Access Hospitals from Loss of Cost-Based Reimbursement
The North Carolina Rural Health Research Program released their Findings Brief, . It looks at how changes to Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) reimbursement – notably a reversion to prospective payment – would have marked negative effects on CAH profitability and financial health. Roughly three quarters of CAHs would operate at a loss. The number of CAHs… Read more »
Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Critical Access Hospitals
The NC Rural Health Research Program’s Findings Brief, Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Critical Access Hospitals, examines how the profitability of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) varies greatly across states and U.S. Census divisions. The decertification of CAHs and the loss of cost-based reimbursement are likely to reduce hospital profitability, with some states and regions… Read more »
Profitability in Rural Hospitals
The North Carolina Rural Health Research Program recently released Profitability in Rural Hospitals, authored by George H. Pink, PhD; Victoria Freeman, RN, DrPH; Randy Randolph, MRP; and G. Mark Holmes, PhD. This new findings brief compares the profitability between 2010 and 2012 for urban and rural hospitals paid under the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS),… Read more »
GME in the United States: A Review of State Initiatives
The debate on how best to reform and fund Graduate Medical Education (GME) is moving up the health policy agenda. Most of the proposals are coming from national organizations offering national solutions. Often absent from the discussion is the important role states play in reforming GME. The Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy, part… Read more »
Recommendations Released for Public Reporting in Residential Care/Assisted Living
New recommendations have been issued by key stakeholders regarding the future of public reporting for assisted living and similar non-nursing home residential care.
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