Tagged: Rural Products

Rural Health Snapshot (2017)

Disparities in health status and access to health care exist between people living in rural areas and those in urban areas.   The displays selected indicators of access to health care, health behavior/risk factors, and mortality rates, comparing rural to urban residents. Read more

The Impact of the Low Volume Hospital (LVH) Program on the Viability of Small, Rural Hospitals

Thanks to a temporary, but substantial expansion of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Low Volume Hospital (LVH) Program, around 500 rural hospitals benefit from LVH payment adjustment. When it was originally implemented in 2005 only five rural hospitals qualified. Under the program, CMS provides an additional payment to qualifying hospitals for the higher costs associated with… Read more »

Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals

The popular business quote “No margin, no mission” succinctly states the importance of profitability. The notion that if a hospital doesn’t make enough money to keep its doors open, its higher purpose is moot may be a simplistic view, but historic and recent evidence suggest that unprofitability can reduce hospital services and quality, or worse,… Read more »

Geographic Variation in Risk of Financial Distress among Rural Hospitals

From 2005 to 2015, 112 rural hospital closures have been identified (North Carolina Rural Health Research Program, 2015). Although six of these closed hospitals have since reopened, the remaining closures impact millions of rural residents in communities that are typically older and poorer, more dependent on public insurance programs, and in worse health than residents… Read more »

Prediction of Financial Distress among Rural Hospitals

From 2005 through 2015, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed their doors to patients in need of inpatient services. Though a handful of these closed hospitals have since reopened, the remaining closures leave millions of rural residents at greater risk of negative health and economic hardship due to the loss of local acute care services.  Policymakers,… Read more »

Estimated Costs of Rural Freestanding Emergency Departments

Since 2005, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed and more are at risk. Rural hospital closures jeopardize access to emergency services in the affected communities. As communities react to and/or prepare for closures, providers and policy makers seek a viable alternative for emergency services provided in a rural hospital setting. A rural freestanding emergency… Read more »

Estimating Eligibility and Uptake of Federally Facilitated Marketplace Insurance in North Carolina in the Second Open Enrollment Period

As the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) enters its third open enrollment period, focus is shifting toward examining which communities have lower uptake in coverage and how to increase enrollment. In national analysis of the first open enrollment period, Holmes and colleagues found that rural areas had lower rates of plan selections. However, these estimates are… Read more »